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If you've got old people who want to talk, can't you connect them with each other and not have to pay people to talk to them? Then you can charge a lower price

If you've got old people who want to talk, can't you connect them with each other and not have to pay people to talk to them? Then you can charge a lower price since it's merely a matchmaking service. Or is the payment an incentive for someone to be a willing audience to be talked at? I think that paying people is an implicit admission that the benefit of the conversation is pretty one-sided. Others have noted that the pay/hour is actually pretty reasonable, but unless it's a video call I can see the "volunteers" just going "mm hmm, wow, that's interesting" at every break in the conversation and not actually engaging in the conversation. The more sophisticated volunteers might even set up a soundboard to do this. I have a hard time believing that you'll get a lot of quality conversationalists to sign up.

neonate 5y ago
There's something special about conversations between old people and young people. I don't know how well that holds up when one side is being paid, but it's not the same thing as old people talking to each other. On the other hand, it says something about our society that you have to pay the younger people to want to talk to them. Arguably it ought to be the other way around, but that's not ho our culture works.
- plushpuffin 5y ago
  Well, yeah, I wasn't seriously suggesting a matchmaking service for old people to chat with each other. I don't think that would work because I imagine this service is less about starting a conversation and more about ensuring a captive audience. My suggestion was meant to illustrate that the payment is a self-admitted necessary component of the conversation, and raise the question of how "engaging" such a conversation could possibly be given that.
jobigoud 5y ago
You can also possibly have the reverse market where old people get paid to talk to young people, if they are speaking a language that the young person is learning and is at the level where they look for conversation practice.

neonate 5y ago

There's something special about conversations between old people and young people. I don't know how well that holds up when one side is being paid, but it's not the same thing as old people talking to each other. On the other hand, it says something about our society that you have to pay the younger people to want to talk to them. Arguably it ought to be the other way around, but that's not ho our culture works.

plushpuffin 5y ago
Well, yeah, I wasn't seriously suggesting a matchmaking service for old people to chat with each other. I don't think that would work because I imagine this service is less about starting a conversation and more about ensuring a captive audience. My suggestion was meant to illustrate that the payment is a self-admitted necessary component of the conversation, and raise the question of how "engaging" such a conversation could possibly be given that.

jobigoud 5y ago

You can also possibly have the reverse market where old people get paid to talk to young people, if they are speaking a language that the young person is learning and is at the level where they look for conversation practice.