Encore: Niall needs a friend — A quest to find connection in isolated times

This episode was originally released Nov. 20, 2020.

As many people gather with family and friends for the holidays, we revisit a story about our listener Niall.

In 2020, Niall emailed us saying he felt isolated during the pandemic. He wanted to know if we could help him make some new friends. So, we did.

Niall's Email:

Hi Amory, Ben and Team,

I’m a 29 year old guy from Ireland, I am registered as blind, have reduced mobility, and the only friend I have is in the UK. While the lockdown is impacting everyone, I feel particularly isolated due to being disabled, and I’m not sure how to make new friends in this current situation.

Being totally honest, with my disability, aside from going to the office when it was open, I am pretty much under permanent lockdown without the support of another person (i.e. guiding me).

How does this relate to Endless Thread I hear you ask… Well I have attempted to use Reddit to make some new friends as it has a broad community of members with differing interests. However, I have been unsuccessful finding someone to communicate with as of yet, and I’d really like to change this, but I’m not sure how.

I have heard about great friendships which have been forged online, but aside from posting on r/needafriend and r/makenewfriendshere, I don’t know where to start.

I would love to hear from someone, but if this is too niche/off topic I totally understand. Thank you very much for bringing Endless Thread to all of us.

Kind regards,
Niall

Special thanks to Reddit user u/archaelleon for this episode's original art. You can find more of their work on YouTube.

Show notes:

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