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RESEARCH DEEP DIVE + IG GRAPHIC SLIDESHOWS

EXPLORING LONELINESS IN CULTURE TODAY.

With mentorship from Nonfiction Research, my team and I were tasked with exploring loneliness in culture today. We looked beyond conventional research sources, exploring the dark alleys of culture. We learned that human beings crave connection, but they too often search for it in the wrong places. Although the Internet can bring us together, it can also lead us astray. In these graphic slideshows, also readable on Instagram, explore loneliness through COVID couples, sugar daddies, porn addiction, K-pop, gamers, Wojak memes, incels, and more.

Follow The Loneliness Project on Instagram or view below.

 

What I Did: Interviewed sex workers and adult film stars about their role in people's love lives. Discovered the dark resonance of many popular memes. Explored the origins of incels.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

 

  1. Everyone inevitably feels lonely. Humans depend on genuine IRL relationships for survival.
     

  2. The Internet can connect us, but it can also lead us astray, inviting us to seek connections in the wrong places, such as pornography and toxic anonymous forums. 
     

  3. We have an intimacy shortage. Sex work and porn can offer temporary relief but are insufficient replacements.
     

  4. Loneliness is an urgent public health crisis. The Biden-Harris administration should regard it as such.
     

  5. If we fail to solve loneliness, it will kill us. Depression and online radicalization will grow unabated.

THE TEAM →

Thomas Freeman — Strategist

Charlie Hudson — Strategist

Brian Siepka — Strategist

MY PART →

In-Depth Interviews

Social Listening

Pop Culture Analysis

Secondary Trend Research

Secondary Cultural Research

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