Lewis Capaldi has reconnected with an old friend thanks to Snapchat.
The ‘Someone You Loved’ hitmaker has been pals with Adam Warrington since they were children and even though they haven’t seen one another for some time, they were able to see themselves together in a variety of situations thanks to the platform’s new Friendship Lens.
Lewis said: “Adam is one of my oldest pals from back home, we started off together playing shows out and about in tiny venues in Scotland. He’s an incredible guitar player and is usually off playing around the world with Yungblud now!
“It’s nice to have someone you grew up with going on to do amazing things and more so than ever, now is the best time to stay in touch with old friends.”
Snap created the lens in response to insights from their second global Friendship study – which surveyed 30,000 people in 16 countries, as well as global experts – which found people have become lonelier since the coronavirus pandemic, which has had an impact on a third of friendships in some way.
The Friendship Time Capsule allows friends who can’t be together in person to create new shared memories through AR on Snapchat, thanks to the use of machine learning, which allows buddies to see their bond in a variety of future scenarios.
The survey found 49% of those surveyed felt lonelier as a result of not being able to see their friends, with only a third feeling pals are reaching out as much as they would like, and another third feeling social distancing has weakened their bonds.
And in the UK, the number of that have lost touch is higher, at 88%, but the number that would want to reconnect is at a massive 70%.
However, more Snapchatters – who often communicate visually – reported becoming closer to friends over the last few months than those who don’t use the platform.
Friendship researcher Donya Alinejad explained visual communication creates a “co-presence”, which results in “a feeling of being together when you’re actually physically distant.”
Donya added: “[Feeling together is important] for a whole host of reasons, particularly for those who are in need of or require a kind of emotional support.”
