Students in Centennial’s post-graduate Public Relations program have declared this month as Face-to-Face February, a 29-day calendar challenge on social media encouraging people to engage in face-to-face interactions as a way to address loneliness. A 2019 survey cross Canadian post-secondary institutions found that nearly 70 per cent of students felt lonely throughout the school year.
The challenge is a campaign developed for The GenWell Project, a human connection movement founded by Pete Bombaci. Genwell came aboard as a client for the unique Storyworks course offered at the School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design, whereby students design and execute a real campaign for a real client.
The #FacetoFaceFeb campaign features daily prompts to encourage followers to engage in face-to-face activities. The campaign is being shared on social media: @GenwellProject and @centennial_CCPR on Twitter and @GenwellProject and @centennial_PR on Instagram. At the end of each day, participants are encouraged to post photos of themselves performing and completing the daily challenge using the hashtag #facetofacefeb.
"The curated challenges are based on helping people develop a lasting habit by proactively connecting with others throughout the month," said Mubashira, a student who is working on the campaign. "We all spend far too much time on technology, but strategically we are using the medium via @GenWellProject accounts on Instagram and Twitter to reach our peers."
"Technology and human connection do not have to be mutually exclusive," said Pete Bombaci, the Chief Connection Officer at The GenWell Project. "It's all about balance. Use your device as a catalyst to engage in real conversation….face-to-face."
"Although created for students, everyone can benefit from this campaign, and we encourage all Canadians to complete these daily challenges. Study after study shows the positive mental and physical health benefits of interacting with people face-to-face and it keeps people happier and healthier. We hope these daily prompts will help people form healthy connection habits and inspire others," Bombaci added.