In the doom-scroll era, dinner with strangers might be the antidote we need
A PostMag writer goes on a blind date with a group of strangers via the Timeleft app that introduces random people to combat ‘big-city loneliness’
“Why would you willingly go to dinner with a bunch of strangers?” was the nearly audible subtext of the look my partner gave me when I told him I’d signed up for TimeLeft.
Touted as “an innovative social platform that brings people together over shared dining experiences”, TimeLeft’s offering is simple: attend a dinner with five other strangers, with the guest mix and restaurant location left to the app’s algorithm.
In a transient city like Hong Kong, where 44.5 million visitors passed through just last year, the quality of those connections matter. A 2022 study by the World Economic Report found that being in overcrowded environments increased loneliness by up to 38 per cent – an effect which remained significant even accounting for factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, education and occupation. In contrast, being among people with shared values and making one feel welcome was associated with a 21 per cent decrease in said loneliness.
More Hongkongers are now turning to online tools that facilitate social meet ups IRL – for both romantic and friendly purposes alike – including run club Instagrams, exercise tracker Strava, and dinner-party platforms like TimeLeft.
