My Proposed Arena of Exchange

The internet is a place where tons of micro communities are formed through social media outlets. These forums allow a private space for people to share their thoughts anonymously. Though these forums can be negative and result in cyberbullying or a general reduction in the collective IQ, there are many forums that are formed with the intention of helping one another. One of the most touching example of these that I have found  are forums that are built to support people with anxiety and depression. These mental illnesses can be extremely isolating, but one has to only look around the internet to know that they are not suffering alone. For example, the depression comic of Hyperbole and a Half has resonated with a shocking amount of people. Because I'm also a comic artist, I also appreciate the way illustrations can bring people together. For my project, I will attempt to extract some of the common thoughts of loneliness and pain that people express on the Internet and illustrate them in a way that makes them relatable through a small cartoon. This cartoon figure will be someone that anyone suffering from anxiety or depression can relate to, like the narrator of Hyperbole and a Half. I intend to do about 25 of these, and then post them on Flickr.