As Australia enforces social media restrictions for under-16s and the UK prepares to introduce similar measures, two Jersey entrepreneurs believe the debate is pointing towards a much bigger question.
What if the real challenge is not simply screen time, but the fact that, despite being more connected than ever, we are slowly losing one of our most fundamental human needs: the experience of belonging?
According to survey published by Harmony Healthcare IT, Gen Z spends an average of six hours and 27 minutes a day using smartphones, while Millennials average five hours and 28 minutes. We are living through the most digitally connected period in history, yet millions of people continue to feel unseen, unheard and disconnected.
Think about the last time you truly felt you belonged.Perhaps it was around a family table, within your local community, at a sports club, at work, or among friends who knew your name, noticed when you were missing and genuinely cared about how you were doing.
After decades spent helping organisations improve Customer eXperience, Digital eXperience and human connection, Jersey entrepreneurs Claire Boscq and Andy Jarvis believe technology can play a more positive role. Instead of competing for attention, they believe it should strengthen relationships. Instead of monetising communities, it should empower them. That belief has led them to create HX | Hive eXperience, a new online community platform designed to give organisations, charities, associations, businesses and interest groups their own trusted online home. Within each Hive, members can connect, collaborate, discover events, access learning, support businesses and create opportunities together.
Inspired by the idea of a Village Without Walls, HX brings the familiar elements of community life into one place, without relying on advertising, endless scrolling or algorithms to determine what people see.
Claire Boscq said:
“I have spent more than 20 years helping organisations improve Customer eXperience because I believe experiences shape how people feel. Today, I believe our greatest challenge is no longer simply Customer eXperience. It is Human eXperience.
We have become more connected than ever before, yet so many people feel unseen and disconnected. Somewhere along the way, our attention, our relationships and even our communities became something to monetise. Every community already holds gold within it: knowledge, kindness, mentors, businesses and people who care. HX exists to help communities unlock what they already have, rather than compete for it.”
Co-founder Andy Jarvis added:
“Technology should quietly enable relationships, rather than dominate them. We have not set out to build another social network. We have built trusted digital infrastructure that gives communities greater ownership of their own online home. When technology becomes simpler, safer and more purposeful, people can focus on what really matters: building relationships, sharing knowledge and creating opportunities together.”
Although created in Jersey, HX has been built with a global vision. Rather than simply launching another social platform, Claire and Andy hope to begin a wider conversation about how technology can help repair the heart of communities by improving the Human eXperience of belonging.
