Afterglow
RSA Competition - 2019
Responding to the RSA brief, Loneliness, we produced a text message service with the aim to reduce student loneliness called Afterglow. Funny, informative and positive messages would be sent during twilight which is the loneliest time of the day.
Through primary research and surveys we found that 90% of students said they had felt lonely and 80% said more tools are needed to combat loneliness. Students can sign up to Afterglow through university or sources like NUS. Collaborative project with Emma Gray.
We surveyed 40 current and graduate students to gather a broad range of results. We found that the majority of people who took the survey had felt lonely during their time at university.
We found that 90% of students said they had felt lonely and 80% said more tools are needed to combat loneliness beyond joining a sports club like Universities suggest.
“Encourage people to be open about the less enjoyable sides to uni so people feel that it is normal and ok to feel lonely.”
“More support during Freshers week to introduce people and help students bond with flatmates.”
“Loneliness can feel like a minor thing at university or seen as embarrassing.”
Afterglow is a text message service aimed to combat student loneliness at university. Students at university are a lonely demographic of people with up to 50% of students admitting to deliberating leaving university due to issues such as loneliness.
The messages will be received by the student at what research shows is the loneliest time of day; twilight. This is when the sun is setting and the day is drawing to a close. It is considered the time of each day where people feel at their lowest.
The aim of each message is to send a gentle nudge and reminder to the student that they are not alone and there is always someone who cares. Some messages are funny and silly, but others have a more serious tone all with the aim of lifting the mood.
To sign up to the service, students are able to submit their number onto cards into the Afterglow boxes located around their university. Sign up sheets are also up in areas like libraries and canteens at university. NUS is another sign up avenue as well as their university website.
Another aspect of the solution is to follow the Afterglow Instagram (@afterglow_uk). It creates a community of followers of fellow university students and allows them to interact through the page. We also encouraged our followers to take photos during the twilight time sunset and post them to their story so we could share them.
