America is in the midst of a loneliness epidemic. Roughly half of all Americans reported experiencing loneliness even before COVID-19 isolated us, according to a 2023 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The trend of people spending less time together stretches back decades.
The irony is that in the age of smartphones and social media, humanity is more connected than ever. Yet both data and lived experience tell us that actual human connection has never been scarcer — and that our devices and online social networks are the prime culprits.
But if Darren Mark succeeds, you may soon be able to virtually “feel” the presence of friends, neighbors and strangers, even from thousands of miles away.
The 58-year-old Brattleboro entrepreneur is the founder of hūmNET, a new app he believes will be responsible for “revolutionizing modern human connection,” according to the startup’s PR copy. HūmNET promises a remedy for loneliness through its very perpetrator: smartphones. Mark says the app will allow users to connect over “what they’re hoping for, praying for, struggling with, synchronously, in real time,” all without ever saying or typing a word.
While “connective” online platforms such as Instagram and Hinge assume short attention spans and rely on the constant exchange of words and images, hūmNET is all about making time for steady, shared silence.
The basic idea is that users will convene in themed virtual events called “humns.” Participants are supposed to think about the theme and trace a finger around a glowing orb on the screen. As more people join, the orb grows brighter, accompanied by a vibrating hum.
The app is still in the development stage but is available to download for Android and iOS. Curious about how it works — and whether it actually forges human connection — I downloaded hūmNET to give it a try.
Opening it, I found a sliding menu of humns I could join, including “A Few Minutes for Gratitude,” “Healing the Healers” and “Together in Recovery.” I picked “Peace in the World.”
As if celebrating my choice, my phone commenced a low vibration and emitted a droning noise that sounded like something out of a sci-fi film. Mark later told me that he DIY-ed the audio by hooking up his daughter’s old Yamaha keyboard to his laptop with “a tangle of cables from a shoebox” and playing some chords.
A purple circle appeared with “peace in the world.” at its center, along with three planet Earth emojis showing different faces of the globe. A smaller orb traveled at a steady pace around the circle’s perimeter. I traced this moving target with my finger, reading and rereading the abruptly punctuated words it surrounded.
The bottom of the screen informed me that 133 people were “here” with me, but Mark clarified later that due to a glitch, the count currently represents the number of people who have ever entered this particular humn. Once the app is fully developed, it will display the actual number of people tracing the circle at the same moment.
Imagining 133 others swirling their fingers and staring at those little Earth emojis along with me was sort of comforting. At least we’d all look somewhat silly — apart, but together. For Mark, that wordless unity is part of the point.
When Mark’s mother was diagnosed with lung cancer a couple of years ago, he received a flood of kind, inquisitive text messages. But what he really needed was thoughtful but unimposing company.
“I would just get emojis … hug emojis, heart emojis. And instead of it being soothing or helpful or calming, it just created more stress and anxiety,” Mark said. “The truth is that sometimes it’s not really about the words; you just need to be held.”
He designed hūmNET to provide that feeling. The app has been in the works since 2022, having evolved through rounds of troubleshooting and pilot testing. In its final format, which Mark envisions will be complete in January, each humn will feature a map with the locations of fellow participants.
The developed version will also request a voice sample from users, which it will then merge with the voices of every participant in a humn to create a unique sound, replacing the sci-fi noise.
“[It’s] kind of like monks chanting,” Mark said. “As more family members and friends join their voices, you can really visualize who’s there with you.”
Anyone can start a humn, Mark explained, whether for just two users or a larger community, such as a church congregation or an addiction recovery group. He is working on a notification system that will invite volunteers — other users signed up to be on standby — to join a humn when someone in their community signals a need for virtual company.
Humns can also offer a haven for strangers with shared passions, Mark said. He envisions groups of protesters continuing their solidarity on hūmNET after the in-person event is through.
“Instead of just going home with your soggy sign and feeling good about yourself, there [could be] a weekly humn for a few minutes that was like a virtual rally until the next real one,” Mark said. “There’s a way to keep the momentum going so that instead of all that collective energy dissipating, it builds.”
Rallying for human rights IRL isn’t enough anymore — you’ve got to keep it up when you’re at home, too. To save the world, just keep on tracing.
Craig R. Westling, associate dean for health sciences education at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College and a hūmNET adviser, said that from a public health perspective, the app is useful because it shifts how we use our phones. Instead of searching for meaningless approval in Instagram likes, we could find genuinely supportive communities. He called it a mindfulness app.
“There’s both a sound and a feeling,” Westling said. “As you’re moving your thumb and you’re rotating it, that taps into something that helps you relax and be present.”
Westling has only used the app to test it out. But he believes it would have been useful in past situations when he felt lonely.
“Like when my mother-in-law died, I can imagine, with family spread all around, that there’s an opportunity for family to have a group humn,” he said.
Trying to heal loneliness that’s partially caused by our smartphones with yet another app does seem ironic, and skeptics may wonder how tracing a humming circle solves the problem. But knowing that our phones aren’t going away anytime soon, skipping out on doomscrolling through TikToks in favor of some meditative good vibes on hūmNET is probably worth a shot.