Three UK wants to help you improve your digital social skills

This pioneering hub is being dubbed ‘Mind, Body & Scroll’, signifying a coupling of traditional holistic health techniques with our increasing tendency to let or phones intermediate out social lives. It’s all very well investing in your physical and mental health, contends Three, but you need to keep an eye on your social fitness too.

Three’s research concluded two thirds of Brits admit they could have stronger emotional connections with the people in their network, while half of them lack the confidence to communicate effectively. This lack of social fitness causes all sorts of problems, including alienation from family members, apparently.

If that sounds familiar then Three invites you to attend its Mind, Body & Scroll popup venue at The Outernet. There you can take part in the following classes:

“The research shows we are a nation that thrives on building strong networks and deeper connections with others,” said Aislinn O’Connor, Marketing Director at Three UK & Ireland. “From family group chats to one-on-one chit-chat, we all have our own unique collection of networks that spark meaningful conversations and nurture a sense of belonging. With our new pop-up, Mind, Body & Scroll, we aim to inspire Brits to boost their Social Fitness for a better connected life on the UK’s Fastest 5G Network.”

This initiative is part of Three’s current primary marketing initiative, themed ‘Life Needs A Big Network’. It’s consistent with many such campaigns over the years, which feel the need to remind us of the social benefits of telecommunications. Who can forget Maureen Lipman wrestling with her phone or Bob ‘oskins telling us “It’s good to talk”?

Amid all this talk of social fitness, emoji classes and positive intelligence coaches, it’s easy to scoff at initiatives like these. Your correspondent had to exercise Herculean self-restraint not to. But, marketing ulterior motive aside, mental health remains a relatively mysterious and under-resourced field, so any attempt to support it is welcome.

Many other studies, notably Jonathan Haidt’s research into the effect of social media use on adolescent mental health, confirm that many people are struggling to establish a healthy relationship with their phones. So we’ll give Three the benefit of the doubt on this one and invite anyone who thinks they could do with a bit of help to attend Mind, Body & Scroll though this link.