The event, which the organizers believe is the first of its kind in Norrköping, involved participants taking turns talking to each other and then deciding who they wanted to meet again. According to SVT Östergötland, Anna Flodin described a clear need for such events, noting that twelve spots were full with about twenty people on a waiting list. Organizers Kajsa Smede and Anna Flodin have observed increased loneliness in society, attributing it partly to digital development and a lack of physical places to meet.
According to SVT Östergötland, Hillevi Busch, an investigator at the Public Health Agency of Sweden, described loneliness as natural, often stemming from changes like moving or ending a job or education, and suggested seeking contexts with shared interests such as book circles or film clubs. The organizers hope to develop the activity and hold more events in the future, with Anna Flodin mentioning the possibility of accommodating more people in the same evening due to the large venue. According to SVT Östergötland, Kajsa Smede described plans to make some evenings more niche, targeting different groups to help them find each other like a real-life forum.
The hope is that people will make new acquaintances, that they will get friends for life. The goal is more warmth.
The demographics of participants and the effectiveness of speed-friending compared to other methods remain unclear, as do future event dates and details.
You see it from the registrations. We have twelve spots that are full, and then there are maybe twenty people in line.
You need a context.
Experiencing loneliness is natural. Often it's because you've changed social environments – for example, that you've moved or ended a job or an education.
It could, for example, be a book circle, film club, or be about gaming.
One could target it toward different target groups, so they more easily find each other. Kind of like a forum, but in real life.