Do We Need A Tinder For Loneliness?

We are starting to hit our stride with our focus on loneliness and are now proposing tests - or identifying gaps in our knowledge.

One of the questions that is still puzzling us is whether we really need a Tinder for loneliness. 

There are loads of skills in the community - but how does someone find what they need when they don't even know what they are looking for?

What is the very best way for communities to share skills and connect them to those that need them?

There are lots of digital tools on the market that purport to perform this function - but if that's the case why are we still one of the loneliest countries in Europe? 

So one of the first things we are doing is some quick desktop research (closing next Thursday) of what's available, what the impact is , and whether we could connect it better for Bromford residents.

Could it be that we put too much faith in digital tools as a way of connecting the disconnected? Perhaps loneliness is not a disease for which we can find a convenient tech solution. 

Or maybe there already is a Tinder for loneliness - Tinder itself. 

If you have some great examples or success stories of how digital platforms that help match skills with need - please let us know. You can comment here,  by adding a post to our Trello board or by mailing lab@bromford.co.uk.

We'll be sharing some of our other proposed loneliness tests tomorrow...