$5 for a girlfriend.

So with today being Valentine's Day, I'm thinking many people might have been a bit lonely, but how lonely do you have to be to hire a girlfriend for the day? 

I personally have had a lovely day. Those that read yesterday's post, will know I had an epiphany. So today, despite being single, I wined and dined with two men (who also happened to be two of my close friends) and had flowers and chocolates bought for me. So I'll conclude the day by saying, although Valentine's Day is over for another year, it doesn't mean you have to stop showing the people you love, that you love them.

For some however, being in a relationship seemed the be all and end all. If they were single they were depressed, if they were in a relationship they had to tell the whole world about it, posting photos of their gifts. If I didn't know any better I'd say they were trying to convince themselves ... 

How far would you go to be in a relationship on Valentine's Day?

It became clear some would go very far when I was pretty shocked to see that a guy had paid a girl on Facebook to be 'his girlfriend'  ... 

Well I say girlfriend but what I really mean is that he paid $5 to be 'in a relationship' for a week ...

I've heard of people hiring escorts, it's an age old tradition that still happens today, most recently in the 'Lewis the con man saga' in Coronation Street and in the film The Wedding Date. In these cases, at least you're getting a service; they attend  events with you and a lot of the time, people are paying for the company, but this guy literally just wanted his friends and family to think that he had a girlfriend.

I have to say, it was good value for money. For $5, 'Sophia', as she calls herself, gives you a package deal... 

- A week of being 'in a relationship' status with her

- A few status comments 

- A few 'likes'

Not much I guess ... but enough to start the gossip running through the grape vine. 

The 'online escort' doesn't take her role too seriously but the way she said, 'It's not a big deal really' hit the nail on the head: Facebook means absolutely nothing.

So why the need to lie to people? I have to say this story disappointed me; it really devalues the idea of a relationship. I'm not a Romantic, quite the opposite in fact, but this just makes a mockery of the whole idea. If Facebook is that official, it made me question what honestly is a relationship and what makes it 'Facebook Official'? 

The possibilities with social networking are becoming endless. You can be whoever you want to be to on line 'friends' but if you can't be yourself with them and they can't accept you for who you are, are they really your friends? 

As a Facebook user myself, I enjoy the social aspect of it and I have never been subject to any of the horror stories you hear about. I don't accept people I don't know, I don't broadcast my whole life on there, and if I was in a relationship, I wouldn't feel the need to tell everyone about it straight away. Facebook is cheap and meaningless. 

As a generation, I think we need to be very careful ... before long people could be having virtual 'marriages' with people they have never even met.