A million-dollar ad campaign was just defaced in New York. Not for politics, but for pearls.

The product? Friend, a pearl necklace that claims to be your “AI companion.” For $129 it whispers affirmations, updates, and bespoke chatter from your custom-trained, always listening, “friend” directly into your ear. Wired ran a piece titled “I Hate My AI Friend.” Protestors scrawled “AI IS NOT YOUR FRIEND” across the billboards.

It’s funny, but it’s also telling. This necklace isn’t just a gadget. It’s a mirror.

We’re well aware by now, we’re in the middle of a loneliness epidemic with historic levels of social isolation. Friend groups are shrinking. Dating feels transactional. Soft skills like making small talk, building trust, or showing up for each other are rusting from disuse.

So into that vacuum rushes a string of pearls with an algorithm inside. Whispering what we wish someone real would say. A high-tech placebo for the ache of being human.

But here’s the thing: friendship is not a product. It’s a practice. It’s also one of the most proven protectors of our health and wellbeing. Strong friendships lengthen life, buffer stress, and anchor identity. They’re not a luxury accessory. They’re the baseline.

Yet we treat them like the side dish. We save the rituals — the trips, the money, the long talks — for romance. We let friendships become background noise. We tell ourselves we’ll invest “when things calm down.”

What if we flipped that? What if friendship was your portfolio, your 401(k), your actual soft-wear upgrade?

Because perhaps the most valuable thing you can “wear” is not a pearl necklace that pretends to know you. It’s a life populated by people who already do.

Culture is starting to catch up. Apple TV+’s Platonic is back for Season 2, leaning into the idea that friendship doesn’t need a romantic plot twist to matter. Friendship apps are gaining traction. And at this year’s TIFF, the Canadian drama Dinner with Friends premiered — a story about longtime friends in their 30s trying to hold onto each other as careers, families, and expectations pull them apart.

The signals are clear: we’re hungry to see friendship taken seriously. But many of us still funnel our best energy into romance — and give friendships the leftovers.

That’s backwards. Friendship isn’t the afterthought. It’s the infrastructure. It’s what makes every other relationship healthier. It’s also the best insurance policy against a future where intimacy is outsourced to gadgets.

Tech can simulate connection. It can’t replace the messy, reciprocal, skin-in-the-game care that makes friendship real. Before you buy a friend, try being one. Before you outsource intimacy, remember: you already have a network worth investing in.

And if that network feels thinner than you’d like, that’s not a failure. It’s an invitation. Relationships — even platonic ones — atrophy without care. They’re like muscles. You can rebuild them. You can make new ones. You can practice. That’s the soft skill we’ve been losing, and the one worth relearning.

We built Necterine to help you connect better. With other people, sure, but first and foremost with yourself. This week’s reminders:

You don’t need an AI necklace to whisper affirmations. You’ve got people — and you’ve got you.

We see you. You’re doing amazing, sweetie.

xoxo,
Team Necterine