Need a Cuddle Buddy?

With Cuddlr, there's an app for that — unfortunately.


Screen grabs from the Cuddlr app.

Screen grabs from the Cuddlr app.

Need a cuddle buddy? There’s an app for that, too.

How sad.

If there’s ever a moment where you might feel especially in need of a human touch, head over to the App Store and download Cuddlr, a new lifestyle app designed to allow complete strangers to find time to cuddle in a place of their choosing.

The creators of Cuddlr emphasize that the program is not a dating app nor is it designed to facilitate hook ups, though this writer cannot help but read the word “cuddle” as one bit sexual euphemism in this particular scenario. Equally obvious is that the development of this application speaks volumes about how pathetic our emotional interactions have become as a result of technology.

Like other social apps, Cuddlr works by request. So when you find yourself in the mood to spoon, users can fire up their phones and make a new type of bad decision.

Smart phones enable us to satisfy our earthly needs and human desires at the touch of a button. We can feed ourselves, buy clothes, and refine the search in our search for love with strategic filtering, snappy “about me” sections and casual swipes to the left.

The company seems to overlook the inherent awkwardness that’s sure to come with laying up next to a complete stranger and trying to enact some sort of fondness. Human connections just can’t be scheduled or digitized into becoming something authentic. That anyone would think that it could be, speaks to a degree of entitlement. Or perhaps loneliness. Because that’s not how any of this works.

Cuddling – real cuddling – is supposed to be personal. It’s an intimate sharing of space, the kind that’s intentional and affectionate and fun.

And that’s something that can’t be programmed.

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