DURHAM, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University in conjunction with Wisdo, the self-care platform that helps guide people through meaningful life events with shared experience-based wisdom, launched the first large-scale study on the impact of Emotional Wellness Networks on the growing societal issues of loneliness and isolation. The study aims to illuminate how a social network model based on providing users with authentic guidance impacts social isolation and support, compared to traditional social media platforms.
According to a 2018 study, nearly half of Americans feel alone, left out, or feel isolated from others. This comes just after previous research into 11 social networks including Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, revealed that young adults who use social media more than two hours daily have twice the odds of suffering social isolation then those who use social media for less than half an hour daily.
“Our core mission is to make people happier, healthier, and wealthier through exploring the psychological processes behind behavior change,” said Dr. Julie O’Brien, Principal and Behavioral Scientist at the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University. “We believe that behavioral science has the power to solve some of the world’s biggest problems, especially when paired with technology and bold ideas. We’re excited to be working with the Wisdo team on this important new research to better understand the role Emotional Wellness Networks play in improving people’s lives.”
The new partnership stems from internal Wisdo research, mimicking previous studies on traditional social media and loneliness. The research, analyzed by crowdsourcing expert Dr. Lior Tzoref, surveyed over 7,600 Wisdo members and revealed that the perceived social isolation of users dropped by over 15 percent over just a two week period.
“Loneliness is gaining worldwide recognition with countries such as the United Kingdom appointing a ministerial lead on loneliness and the United State’s former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declaring loneliness as an epidemic,” said Wisdo CEO and Co-Founder Boaz Gaon. “Wisdo was founded under the belief that connecting people based on shared life experiences can support individuals rather than contribute to the growing strain on mental health. By structuring the rewards of a network around helpfulness, rather than entertainment or ‘likes’, we can create communities with the express purpose of helping others and are honored to have Duke join us on our shared journey.”
Wisdo is building the world’s first map of human wisdom to supply users with timely and forward-looking insights and services from others who have been there and can help. Using proprietary technology, over 92 percent of the ~700K people who downloaded the app have been matched with people who share their same life experiences or are facing the same challenges. Wisdo users have exchanged over 14 million messages, averaging 25 messages per user each day.
The first joint study will survey all Wisdo users across communities, which spans over 100 meaningful life transitions from Depression to Divorce to Parenting to Finding your Dream Job. The Center’s Better Living and Health Initiative is working in close collaboration with Wisdo to design and carry out the research to better understand how social isolation and social support is impacted in correlation to being connected to people with similar life experiences.
To learn more about Wisdo visit www.wisdo.com
About Wisdo
Wisdo is a self-care platform that provides users encountering life’s challenges and meaningful events with experience-based wisdom from others who have lived through similar experiences. Founded by media and tech industry veterans Boaz Gaon and Ido Jonathan Engel, Wisdo received funding from leading Silicon Valley angels and JAZZ Venture Partners. Wisdo encourages learning from other people’s experiences: It crowdsources the structure of human experiences to help people prepare for what’s coming, connect to those who have been there, and share what they know. This year, Wisdo was also named to the prestigious Fast Company list of the world’s Most Innovative Companies.
For more information on Wisdo, you can visit their website wisdo.com or follow them on Twitter @WeAreWisdo. Download the app, available on both the App Store and Google Play Store.
