Present Event, the Loneliness Epidemic, and Phone Down Song

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The Friday Focus is a weekly newsletter where we highlight:

1. A piece of content we love so you don’t have to doomscroll to find something interesting

2. A tip to help you reduce your screen time

3. A quote that has us thinking

If you like these posts subscribe to our email list here!

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We Hosted An AMAZING Event!

Last Friday Focus we mentioned we were throwing an event in NYC “Gen Z Panel on Social Media - Addiction and the Mental Health Crisis.”

Well I’m proud to report that it went INCREDIBLY! We had 100+ people come out on a Friday evening in the pouring rain to hear some incredible young activists and entrepreneurs in the space talk about this problem, moderated by yours truly.

So many people came up to me after the event and said it was one of the most informative and engaging event they had been to, and it was all thanks to the incredible speakers we had on the panel, so I wanted to take a minute and highlight them and their work.

• ​Larissa May: a digital well-being pioneer, Larissa founded #HalfTheStory in 2015, a non-profit focused on education, advocacy, and community to empower the next generation’s relationship with technology. Larissa has been recognized as a digital wellness advocate by Time, Forbes, Refinery29, Good Morning America, and NBC

• ​Maddie Freeman: a student activist and entrepreneur, Maddie is the founder of NoSo November, a 1-month detox and educational program that encourages young people to learn about the impact that social media can have on our mental health and lives

• ​Yoelle Gulko: a student activist, entrepreneur, and filmmaker, Yoelle is currently directing the film Our Subscription to Addiction focusing on her own struggle with phone addiction and highlighting the work done by fellow youth activists in the space

Pic below :)

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Tip to Reduce Your Screen Time 📱

Spend time with some friends.

Right now, we’re in the middle of a loneliness epidemic.

Research has proven that social connection and community are fundamental necessities for human health and happiness, and without it, we become susceptible to both physical and mental health issues.

There are many reasons why we doomscroll, but one of the biggest reason is that its an escape from our reality.

It’s a distraction from any negative feelings we might be having: anxiety, depression, loneliness, etc.

The more alone we are, the more we feel empty inside, and the more likely we are to spend all day in bed scrolling TikTok for cheap dopamine hits.

In today’s world it’s so easy to go weeks without meaningful social connection. We spend all day on our devices which limits our motivation to go out and meet people, and even when we do, connection and intimacy is limited because of the constant presence of mindless distraction.

So take this weekend and reach out to a friend. Spend some quality time without your phone. It’s good for your mental health and will show you that life is better outside the screen.

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Song Lyrics That Have Us Thinking 🧠

Phone Down by Lost Kings. Love this song! Great lyrics and an actually good song :)

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