MA Project: Loneliness Awareness Week
For my final project, I decided to create a collection of content to be used as part of the Loneliness Awareness Week campaign. It was designed to raise awareness of loneliness as an issue faced by young adults. It includes:
blog post
press release
campaign promo video
podcast interview segment
social media video interview
promo Video - loneliness awareness week
This promo video includes B-roll taken from one of my wanders around Manchester, plus a script written and voiced by myself. Some stock videos were weaved in to add to the narrative. The whole thing was edited using Premier Pro.
Social media story - james’ experience
In this short video for social media, James shares an experience of a time he felt lonely during the pandemic - and what helped him through it. I interviewed him, and edited it with a simple and raw feel, to reflect the honesty of the conversation.
podcast segment - It’s Not a you problem
In this 8 minute podcast slot, my coursemates Esse and Jordan share one time they felt alone, and one time they felt connected.
blog post
Young Professionals –
The daily grind doesn’t leave a lot of time for connection
One could be forgiven for thinking that if any group of people struggles with loneliness the least, it would be millennials. Youth and independence are easy to associate with fun, freedom and loads of friends – nights out, spontaneous hangouts and catch-ups over drinks. And as young adults with jobs and our own places, a lot of us probably grew up thinking it would be that way.
If you’re between the ages of 23 and 38 and are wondering why you feel like you’re doing all of this adulting stuff alone, you might be surprised to hear that you’re not!
Recent YouGov polls show that 3 in 10 of millennials are always or often lonely. 27% describe themselves as having no close friends. 30% as having no best friend.
There are a number of factors that are contributing to this.
Less spare time
Do you find that trying to arrange a catch-up with a friend feels like trying to arrange an appointment? When you both finally do manage to find a time that suits you both, it could be a month away, or even more.
And, if the hangout doesn’t get cancelled, postponed, or rescheduled at least 3 times before you finally do manage to meet, when you do meet, the time you spend together – maximum 2 hours at a busy coffee place – is just not enough to get further than how work is, what the latest developments are in each other's lives, what you’re planning to do for the holidays, or Sophie’s upcoming baby shower.
And then it could be another three months before another hangout is arranged.
Moving cities
When we graduate, landing that first job is the main thing on our radar. Many of us will move to the other end of the country for an opportunity, and leave behind our family, close friends and support networks. At this time of life, friendship groups scatter, and lives are lived separately, meaning it’s harder to reconnect, and have common experiences to relate to.
Moving to a new city means starting from scratch. The reality is, forming friendships takes time and effort. And with full time jobs, we’re tired in the evenings and at the weekend. We get home, get our lunch ready for the next day, watch TV, and then go to bed. At the weekend, we have grocery shopping to do, bills to pay, cleaning the house, going to the gym, or whatever else we need to do to keep life ticking over. And we’re tired! Our free time is taken up with trying to rest up for another week at work.
Socialising will typically look like work drinks a couple of times a month, or a quick catch-up with a mate over a coffee or snatched conversations at the watercooler at work. These are momentary and never seem to get beyond the superficial.
So little time!
While these brief interactions are valuable, and positive relationships can come from it, the truth is, we miss being truly known and knowing others for who we are as people beyond our jobs and what we do at the weekend. We don’t have time to share our hopes, dreams and struggles. We don’t have time to develop random inside jokes and make each other laugh til our bellies hurt. We don’t have time to get to know how other people tick, what they truly love, what they truly hate, and what makes them smile in the way that makes their eyes crinkle up.
Conversations stay polite, safe, trivial, and professional.
With the pandemic, and working from home, even the watercooler moments have been lost, meaning that any loneliness that we were experiencing before Covid, has intensified.
Because of the fact that most of us are living life in our own bubbles, we’re not as likely to be aware that anyone else is struggling with the same thing. Because people only post their best moments on social media, so many of us are feeling like losers because we are under the illusion that other people have better relationships and friendships than us, and we are just weird loners.
You’re not alone
But the stats speak for themselves. If you are reading this post and are like ’that’s me!’, you are definitely not as alone as you think you are. Loneliness is not anyone’s fault. It’s a symptom of the way life is for many of us, due to moving away from home to new cities where we know nobody and don’t have the time needed to build the quality friendships and share experiences we used to as kids and teens, and any number of other factors.
During loneliness awareness week, our mission is to get more people talking about loneliness. The more conversations we have, the more people will realise they’re not the only ones, and that they are not weird! Our hope is that we can rethink our priorities, and place a higher value on friendship, togetherness, and just hanging out!
We’d love to hear your story, and any ideas you have for making a difference, and making the world a more connected place.
Press Release:
#itsnotayouproblem – Charities launch joint campaign to tackle loneliness
among young adults.
A new national campaign to end loneliness and social isolation has been launched by The Campaign to End Loneliness, The Marmalade Trust, and mental health charity, Mind.
It aims to give a voice to millions of younger adults between the ages of 18 and 40 across the UK who are struggling with loneliness and social isolation.
“Recent research is telling us that young people are now lonelier than the elderly”, says Robert Hewings, Programme Director of the Campaign to End Loneliness.
“My hope for this campaign is that conversations will be sparked around this complex issue that will lead to progress towards a deeper sense of community for everyone, but particularly for the young”.
Bristol-based loneliness charity, The Marmalade Trust, has been hosting Loneliness Awareness Week every year since 2018, to get people talking about how loneliness affects people of all ages.
In 2022, they want to put the spotlight on reducing the stigma around loneliness among the younger generation.
The campaign has launched a website (www.itsnotayouproblem.co.uk) that includes a blog, and a series of videos featuring real young people from all walks of life sharing their personal experiences of loneliness.
Mind, The Marmalade Trust, and The Campaign to End Loneliness will be sharing campaign related content on their Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok channels on a weekly basis.
