This Accidental Entrepreneur Is Tackling the Problem of LonelinessLos Angeles's first 'People Walker' earns $7 a mile making small talk.
New technologies, especiallysocial networksand dating apps, have contributed to an epidemic of loneliness that has swept across America in recent decades.
In the 1970s and '80s, some 11 to 20 percent of Americans reported feeling lonely, said John Cacioppo, director of the University of Chicago's Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience and co-author ofLoneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection,in an interview withFortune. That proportion has increased to a staggering 40 to 45 percent this decade.
The increased ability to find jobs in different locations, endless entertainment and ourmobilephones have all made it easier for us to drift from the social connections that have bound humans in the past. Now, much of social interaction is as simple as a like, a comment or a swipe.
Related:Don't Let the Loneliness of Entrepreneurship Kill You
So can technology cure the loneliness epidemic that it spurred? Accidental entrepreneur Chuck McCarthy may have stumbled upon the answer.
The Guardianreports大胡子洛杉矶struggling actor is now the city's first people walker. Yes, for $7 a mile, McCarthy accompanies clients on the sidewalks and in the park near his home, making, for the most part, small talk. In essence, his margin is zero. His only marketing efforts are lamp post signs and a homemade T-shirt branding him "The People Walker."
People have taken notice, asThe Guardianreports that McCarthy has fielded hundreds of emails. He'srecruitedfive other people walkers to cover various parts of the city, although he won't take a cut of their earnings until he settles on a business model.
Then there's the lingeringfranchiseopportunity, as people in Britain, New York and Israel have already expressed interest in the idea.
Related:3 Ways to Avoid the Loneliness of Working Remotely
McCarthy stepped into a problem, and his solution seems to be in demand. His next move may be followingUber's path and launching an app. And a quote from McCarthy perfectly illustrates the irony in that.
"We're on phones and computers constantly communicating but we're not connecting as much," he told the publication. "We need that human interaction."
