There's a fine line (maybe not so fine) as to when something becomes manipulation IMHO - though if someone's paying $25 monthly for someone(s) to chat with to feel connected then I suppose they've applied an added bias or value; makes me feel a bit sad if the people aren't doing it just for fun.
People are doing sadder things than this to keep the emotional lights on. At least it's cheaper than prostitutes.
You know the saddest first-world thing I've ever heard? A prostitute doing a reddit AMA had a client once that wanted her to sing "happy birthday" for him. It was his birthday and no one else was going to.
That's rather broad. There are moral issues with sex slavery, for instance, but prostitution as a concept is fairly amoral unless you mistakenly believe the sexuality of others is something you have a right to judge.
