“Seems simple, I know, but it takes planning, persistence, and a few trusty accomplices.”
Hannah Smothers was torn. The idea of enduring Valentine’s Day, “arguably the best worst holiday”, as a single girl wasn’t entirely appealing. In her words, even the most “hardened broad” wouldn’t mind a friend to call their own, on V day. Even if only for the opportunity to garner some ‘likes’ on Instagram.
But finding and keeping an actual boyfriend is a time consuming exercise that she knew might not be possible before the 14th of February.
So she used some initiative and created a mid way solution: she faked a boyfriend on Instagram. As the relationships editor wrote for Cosmopolitan:
Proceed slowly before posting a bunch of flowers delivered by ‘someone special’. A photo of two drinks – one being a beer – and a reference to “the boy” was the post that got Hannah’s friends approaching her.
“WHAT BOY?” Tell me more”
Having teased with the illusion of a boyfriend, Hannah decided stage four had to include photographic evidence of the “boy”. But because “the boy” didn’t really exist, this required a little ingenuity on her part. She placed her hand next to a man’s hand on the rail, drew her phone up close and snapped a pic. Sneaky? Very? Compelling? It seems so.
This generated a stack of likes and sparked a series of texts from her friends. “You’re in love????” Emboldened by this Hannah then snapped a rather hot guy in a cafe and suggested they were having coffee together.
It was a sure fire winner because as she says “People love hot men, and people also love hot coffee, so I manufactured a situation in which I could stage such a photograph.” It didn’t get as many likes as she wanted: was the caption too much? The final stage was a photo of herself on a date night, eating thai food, because what else do couples do on Sunday evenings??
The key in this snap is that both her hands are free – it’s not a selfie! She asked a friend to take the picture which proved she wasn’t alone. Which she wasn’t. But she wasn’t on a date either.
After a week of these photos, her friends were too curious. Who is the new boy? What’s the deal? Why aren’t you telling us more?
The emoji proved indispensable in replying to these messages. They saved her from lying and from elaborating on her new man…. until she was ready to admit it was an experiment.
Hannah and her hot Insta-boyfriend have now broken up but if you’re keen to try her 6 step process, Valentine’s Day is still over a week away…
Top Comments
Shouldn't encourage delusional behaviour. She needs a relationship with a therapist.