Finding Belonging in a Disconnected World

Event ID: PP1162729

Tue, Mar 17, 2026 | 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Venue: Salon D (Hilton Austin Downtown)

View on Official SXSW

Summary

In a world driven by likes, swipes, and algorithmic connection, we’re lonelier than ever. This panel—featuring leading voices in dating, friendship, psychology, and event design—unpacks how we can forge more fulfilling relationships in a tech-saturated world. Whether you're single, partnered, or building a chosen family, you'll walk away with research-backed insights, new frameworks for intimacy, and practical steps to connect more meaningfully—with others and yourself.

Contributors

Raw Event JSON

Large nested arrays are compacted for page readability. Full payload remains in dataset files.

Open JSON payload
{
  "id": "PP1162729",
  "track": "Culture",
  "focus_area": null,
  "category": "Panel",
  "event_id": "PP1162729",
  "event_type": "panel",
  "format": "Panel",
  "genre": null,
  "subgenre": null,
  "name": "Finding Belonging in a Disconnected World",
  "presented_by": null,
  "publish_at": "2025-12-10T11:51:00.000-06:00",
  "reservable": true,
  "reservable_id": "PP1162729",
  "reserved": false,
  "date": "2026-03-17",
  "end_time": "2026-03-17T11:00:00.000-05:00",
  "start_time": "2026-03-17T10:00:00.000-05:00",
  "message": null,
  "image": {
    "alt_text": "Finding Belonging in a Disconnected World",
    "credit": null,
    "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/g8rU_cL_6ZHBmSj6L-R9t1LzRhY=/950x633/images.sxsw.com/187/5ff33e58-2412-20a4-0cbc-c4d417fbb9c3/pp1162729"
  },
  "credentials": [
    {
      "name": "Platinum Badge",
      "type": "platinum"
    },
    {
      "name": "Innovation Badge",
      "type": "innovation"
    }
  ],
  "contributors": [
    {
      "id": 79688,
      "company": "Intentional Dating",
      "credential_types": [
        "filmtv",
        "innovation",
        "music"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2240879,
      "name": "Tim Molnar",
      "speaker_types": [
        "Speaker"
      ],
      "title": "Dating Coach, Bestselling Author, Founder",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "Tim Molnar",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/MLIeJC_8zmx9FS2uREtAhpF4BsM=/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/ec9dc040-0971-ccfa-eb90-b6069a47cf53/pcid-1597330"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Tim Molnar is a dating coach and bestselling author of Date Smarter: A Strategic Guide to Navigating Modern Romance. Drawing on behavioral science, psychology, and his background as a former university lecturer (JD, PhD), he helps people approach relationships with clarity, intentionality, and strategy.\n\nHis work has been featured on NPR, The Happiness Lab, and iHeartRadio. Tim speaks and writes on the intersection of modern relationships, decision-making, and belonging in the digital age.",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    },
    {
      "id": 79687,
      "company": "NPR",
      "credential_types": [
        "innovation"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2240878,
      "name": "Rhaina Cohen",
      "speaker_types": [
        "Speaker"
      ],
      "title": "Producer/editor and author",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "Rhaina Cohen",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/lol-QJKX9gtddgD0079l1LO_toE=/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/807f04e8-c441-9294-0567-64515496b4a2/pcid-1628621"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Rhaina Cohen is the bestselling author of \"The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Center\" and a producer and editor for NPR's Embedded podcast. Her writing about social connection has been published by The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME and is forthcoming in the anthology \"Living, Together.\" Her work has been recognized by numerous awards, including a National Headliner Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award and grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and The Greater Good Science Center. Cohen has spoken widely about her reporting on rethinking relationships, including at TED, and The Aspen Ideas Festival. ",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    },
    {
      "id": 79686,
      "company": "Dr. Marisa G. Franco PLLC",
      "credential_types": [
        "innovation"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2240877,
      "name": "Marisa Franco",
      "speaker_types": [
        "Speaker"
      ],
      "title": "Professor, Speaker, And NYT Best-Selling Author",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "Marisa Franco",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/rnVuY-5afG-CpvZIi96dFfhF1Zc=/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/94bec615-f40a-11ba-0327-56919ae5c74d/pcid-1160316"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "An enlightening psychologist, TED speaker, and New York Times bestselling author, Dr. Marisa G. Franco is known for digesting and communicating the science of human connection in ways that resonate deeply enough with people to change their lives. She works as a professor at The University of Maryland, writes for Psychology Today, and has been a featured psychologist for major publications like The New York Times,  The Atlantic, and Scientific American. She wrote the New York Times bestseller Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make--and Keep--Friends. She speaks on mental health and belonging at corporations, government agencies, non-profits, and universities. ",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    },
    {
      "id": 79685,
      "company": "Skip the Small Talk",
      "credential_types": [
        "innovation"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2240876,
      "name": "Ashley Kirsner",
      "speaker_types": [
        "Speaker"
      ],
      "title": "Founder and CEO",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "Ashley Kirsner",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/D4vy84ga_7agsuBx6vXMUracG_U=/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/08e04419-dc6b-98bd-ef00-b7ef41759b6c/pcid-1623757"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Ashley Kirsner is the founder and director of Skip the Small Talk, a social impact company focused on combatting the loneliness epidemic through in-person and online events in 28 cities nationwide and internationally. Skip the Small Talk events are based on Kirsner’s social and clinical psychology research at Cornell University, the Harvard Decision Science Lab, the Harvard Business School, the Psychotherapy and Emotion Research Lab at Boston University, and McLean Hospital. The success of Kirsner’s events has been featured in Forbes, The New York Times, American Innovation, and The Boston Globe, and on national television via the Today show, on PBS, and on ABC. In 2024, Skip the Small Talk won Hinge's One More Hour grant, and their question card deck is now available via Simon & Schuster.",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    }
  ],
  "venue": {
    "accessible": false,
    "age_policy": null,
    "floor": "4",
    "id": "V0376",
    "indoor_outdoor": "INDOOR",
    "mixhalo_url": "https://translate.mixhalo.rocks/?venue_id=429&partner=true",
    "name": "Salon D",
    "parent_id": "V0365",
    "parent_venue_name": "Hilton Austin Downtown",
    "venue_entry_info": null,
    "formats": null,
    "location": {
      "address": "500 E 4th St.",
      "lat_lon": [
        30.2651364,
        -97.7381904
      ],
      "city": "Austin",
      "postal_code": "78701",
      "state": "TX",
      "name": "Hilton Austin Downtown"
    },
    "root": {
      "id": "V0365",
      "name": "Hilton Austin Downtown",
      "mixhalo_url": null
    },
    "events": "[omitted 5 venue events]"
  },
  "description": "In a world driven by likes, swipes, and algorithmic connection, we’re lonelier than ever. This panel—featuring leading voices in dating, friendship, psychology, and event design—unpacks how we can forge more fulfilling relationships in a tech-saturated world. Whether you're single, partnered, or building a chosen family, you'll walk away with research-backed insights, new frameworks for intimacy, and practical steps to connect more meaningfully—with others and yourself. ",
  "experience_level": "Beginner",
  "audio_url": null,
  "accessibility": [
    "Closed captioned"
  ],
  "accessible_venue": false,
  "add_bcl_url": false,
  "add_slido": false,
  "after_midnight": null,
  "age_policy": null,
  "american_sign_language": false,
  "apple_url": null,
  "audio_description": false,
  "caption_url": null,
  "captioned_qa": false,
  "closed_captioned": true,
  "cpe_credit": false,
  "event_status": "none",
  "has_subtitles": false,
  "hash_tags": [],
  "high_sensory_experience": false,
  "live": false,
  "long_description": "In a world driven by likes, swipes, and algorithmic connection, we’re lonelier than ever. This panel—featuring leading voices in dating, friendship, psychology, and event design—unpacks how we can forge more fulfilling relationships in a tech-saturated world. Whether you're single, partnered, or building a chosen family, you'll walk away with research-backed insights, new frameworks for intimacy, and practical steps to connect more meaningfully—with others and yourself. ",
  "meeting_url": null,
  "meeting_url_live": false,
  "mentorly_url": null,
  "mobile_audio_url": null,
  "open_captioned": false,
  "playlist_tag": null,
  "rebroadcast": false,
  "recommended_ids": [],
  "search_conversions": null,
  "short_program": false,
  "slido_url": null,
  "sort": "FINDING BELONGING IN A DISCONNECTED WORLD",
  "source": "Official",
  "squad_up_url": null,
  "stream_embed": null,
  "stream_id": null,
  "stream_url": null,
  "strobe_warning": false,
  "subdiscipline": null,
  "summit": null,
  "summit_display_name": null,
  "tags": [
    {
      "id": 2134,
      "name": "Mental Health",
      "created_at": "2020-02-03T17:19:28.811-06:00",
      "updated_at": "2026-02-18T15:09:17.127-06:00",
      "sort": "MENTAL HEALTH",
      "alpha": "M"
    },
    {
      "id": 1636,
      "name": "Social Impact",
      "created_at": "2017-10-16T21:03:39.709-05:00",
      "updated_at": "2025-01-21T12:09:19.138-06:00",
      "sort": "SOCIAL IMPACT",
      "alpha": "S"
    }
  ],
  "talent_attending": null,
  "title_only": false,
  "track_display_name": "Culture",
  "trailer_id": null,
  "trailer_url": null,
  "video_on_demand": null,
  "vimeo_id": null,
  "vod": false,
  "xr_project_type": null,
  "youtube_id": null,
  "related_events": [
    {
      "id": "PP1150855",
      "event_id": "PP1150855",
      "type": "event",
      "name": "Tim Molnar Book Signing",
      "publish_at": "2026-02-27T22:59:00-06:00",
      "date": "2026-03-16",
      "start_time": "2026-03-16T16:45:00-05:00",
      "end_time": "2026-03-16T17:05:00-05:00",
      "category": "Book Signing",
      "event_type": "panel",
      "venue": {
        "id": "V1060",
        "name": "Level 6 Foyer"
      },
      "thumbnail_url": "https://images.sxsw.com/s0Jv-y_UE3kOOw08Jk7JGpB42Kc=/950x950/images.sxsw.com/188/f3c0f881-4052-44d7-2241-b9d2e1e000a5/pp1150855",
      "credentials": [
        {
          "name": "Platinum Badge",
          "type": "platinum"
        },
        {
          "name": "Innovation Badge",
          "type": "innovation"
        },
        {
          "name": "Film & TV Badge",
          "type": "filmtv"
        },
        {
          "name": "Music Badge",
          "type": "music"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "related_sales_client": null
}