![Website pays you $20/hour for being someone’s friend. [Image Credit: FreePik]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/11/12/660x290/b_502x220x82/website-pays-you-20hour-for-being-someones-friend-image-credit-freepik_1684475.jpg "Website pays you $20/hour for being someone’s friend. [Image Credit: FreePik]")
This might sound creepy, but a new trend is catching up with people who want to make Friends or pretend to Show The World that they’ve got a cool bunch of buddies.
A website called RentAFriend.Com is providing a platform for people to hire friends on an hourly basis. These “paid friends" simply hang out with the person who hired them. They accompany the members to a movie theatre, a restaurant, or a hiking trip.
The RentAFriend platform, however, makes it clear that it's not a dating website and definitely not an escort agency. The site simply wants to connect people with other like-minded individuals in an effort to foster long-lasting friendships.
One could also request the hired friend to teach new skills, such as music, arts, craft, baking, cooking, swimming, or martial arts.
As the website is global, the platform lets you make friends from across the world. This hourly friend service comes in handy when you are in a new town and want someone to show you around. You could, of course, request this person to teach you the local language.
Why people rent friends?
Despite the presence of several social media websites, the volume of personal and face-to-face human interactions is dwindling every year.
According to RentAFriend website, people hire friends to genuinely have a healthy conversation or show the world that they are having a wonderful time with a cool bunch of people.
RentAFriend has got you covered if you are looking to fill up your Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram with pictures of you with your new “friends.”
How it works
RentAFriend is similar to a job search website. Instead of the employer and job seeker tabs, this site has two login zones: One for the members and the other for the friends.
The person, who wants to hire a friend, signs up by entering the required details on the “Become a member” form on the company’s website. Doing so enables them to gain access to an array of friends, their personal profiles, phone numbers, email IDs, or any additional information that a friend may have agreed to share on the website.
These members can contact the registered “friends” anytime. However, this comes at a cost. The ones seeking friends must pay a monthly membership fee of $24.95. They could also opt for an annual membership, which would cost $69.95.
Friends don't have to pay
The ones who want to be hired as a “friend” sign up on the login form titled, “Become a friend.” There is no membership fee for this category nor do they owe the company any commission. Friends charge between $10-$50 per hour. Friends have flexibility and can choose to work with any member they want. There are no fixed job timings.
As of November 12, 2017, the company has 621,585 “friends” from around the who are available for hire.
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