This unusual alteration to the way we live life calls for solidarity, togetherness, and communication. We may be alone, but we are together
We’re living through unprecedented times. The streets of our major cities – from London to New York, Rome and Shanghai – no longer heave, the supermarket shelves languish; people across generations and demographics fear for their jobs, their houses, and their relationships. The world feels uncertain and unsure, and many of us around the world will be spending time in our homes in isolation to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This unusual alteration to the way we live life calls for solidarity, togetherness, and communication. We may be alone, but we are together.
Today, we’re launching #AloneTogether, and Dazed wants to involve our community – our peers, collaborators, and most importantly our readers – to open a continuing dialogue between us all. It feels more vital than ever to keep community spirit, to act on solidarity, to support and protect the most vulnerable around us.
So we’re asking, in this period of important social distancing – how are you feeling right now, and how are you spending the time at home? Are you making music? Creating art? Dancing on TikTok? Reading a great book? Doing beauty tutorials? Engaging in politics in the URL? Washing your hands to your favourite song? While our governments fail to act, with #AloneTogether, Dazed wants to ensure that our community stays connected through creativity in a period of segregation. This will be a period of withdrawing from the world, but can also be one of sharing ideas and linking with each other. Across our site and our social platforms, we’ll be in conversation with you, sharing your work, listening to your thoughts. We want to know what you’re doing, so tag us with the work you’re making, the work you’re loving, the people you want to support in what will be tough times.
Over the next month, Dazed has enrolled a community of leading names across music, art, fashion, food, design, science and politics to take over Dazed’s Instagram and Twitter for a day, setting daily creative exercises for our audiences to interact with. What you can expect from us in the coming days, weeks, and months: regular, community-led programming, whether that’s mental health check-ins or live beauty tutorials, a yoga class, or a DJ set streamed straight to your bedroom. It’s artists and groups like Rina Sawayama, Shygirl, Benji B, Ghetto Gastro and Charli XCX getting up close and personal. It’s film clubs and playlists and wholesome cupboard recipes. It’s clear, expert-led explainers on what you absolutely need to know right now, light relief and literary deep dives, and specially curated cultural lists to uplift and inspire. We want to help you feel better in whatever it is you want to do – doing less, picking up something new, feeling close to one another.
In the future, when we’re physically able to be with each other again, we’ll want an archive of this era, this strange societal and cultural reset, that tells of community, hopefulness, and creativity – so here it is. We are alone, but we’re together.
Follow along with the #AloneTogether campaign on our site, on Instagram, and on Twitter. Make sure to tag us and #AloneTogether in what you’re up to in self-isolation.