There are more than 7 million people in the Bay Area, yet our lives have become so siloed. Work and the cost of living have taken up more of our time and energy. There's less left for family and friends, and our screens take most of what remains. We're more anxious and isolated, and less willing to hear each other out.
In the Corner is about the people who shape us, the things we carry with us, and the ways we show up for one another. We all need people in our corner. None of us gets through life alone.
of adults are online almost constantly, double 2015
skipped plans with friends they couldn't afford
say people are too busy, tired or overworked
feel isolated at least some of the time
of Bay Area households can't afford the median home
say society has become too individualistic
I moved here not knowing anyone. Some people I met along the way brought me into their circles, and slowly it turned into a life here. These days most people know me through someone else.
I know I got lucky. A lot of people never get pulled in, and nothing about living here makes it happen on its own. Where I grew up, people were just around. Here you have to work at it.
I think of us as background characters in each other’s lives, and the less we see each other, the easier it is to stop caring. So I wanted to ask what’s happening in your corner.
— x
Share your perspective anonymously.
We’re also building a community app to make finding your people easier. Coming soon.
In the Corner X: are we running out of room for each other?
Notes from everyone
Written by people all over the Bay Area. Nothing identifying is shared, and nothing is edited except for length.
Street interviews
The same questions, asked out loud on Bay Area sidewalks.
Leave a note
Catch a QR code on a flyer as you walk by, or answer one right now. Your note goes up anonymously.
Leave a note gives you one of our questions. Let it out has no question: just say what you need to.
Why anonymous?
Without a name attached, people stop performing and say the true thing. Nobody here is trying to be liked, followed or remembered.
How do the questions work?
Each flyer gives you one question, picked at random. Leave a note on the website does the same, and Let it out has no question at all. Every question and its answers stay here.
Every note carries a place: the neighborhood where you found the flyer, or Home if you wrote it from the website.
What happens to an answer?
Every answer is read before anything is shared. Anything that could identify someone is removed, and long answers may be shortened. Nothing else is changed.
The form asks for your email so we can tell you when In the Corner launches. It's never posted, never shown with your note, and never shared.
People type their notes. The site writes them out on cards.
Who's behind it?
In the Corner is run anonymously, the same way people answer it.