[5] In 2011 he posted a flyer in New York City as a "social experiment", stating his phone number and asking people to call him, describing himself as "Jeff, one lonely guy".

The experience led to his 2012 book Jeff, One Lonely Guy, and indirectly to a 2013 pilot episode for a reality television show, Being Noticed, and a starring role in the 2014 documentary Hotline.

[1][2][6] Jeff, One Lonely Guy was selected by Dave Eggers for inclusion in The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012,[7][8] and it was a GQ 2012 "Book of the Year".

[14] Pictures of the flyer went viral after they were posted to the Internet,[15] which resulted in Ragsdale receiving thousands of phone calls, texts, and voicemails from people from all over the world.

Poet and critic Nick Flynn asserts: "We have crossed over the threshold [with Ragsdale's new collage form], and are now—strangely, terrifyingly, beautifully—in this transformed world.

[25] Ragsdale's publicity tour for the book included interviews on NPR,[26] 10-10 WINS,[27] CBS's Man Cave,[28] the podcast Other People with Brad Listi[29] and by Nick Flynn.

[31] The pilot was shot in Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Malibu, as well as various locations throughout Sherman Oaks.

[1][2][33] Hotline premiered in Toronto at Hot Docs in April 2014, where it was an official selection and audience and jury favorite.

[34] Hotline won First Prize for Best Feature Documentary at the 2014 Rhode Island International Film Festival.

[38] In 2011 Ragsdale published the book-length essay "Rage", which was run in The Seattle Review, and in 2012, he became a contributor to the online culture magazine The Nervous Breakdown.

[4] During 2012 and 2013 Ragsdale lived in Canada and produced, shot and edited an "immersion documentary" in which he accompanied Canadian sex workers on hundreds of calls over a span of months.

[40] The resulting protest, organized by Ragsdale, helped contribute to the closing of The Falls bar in New York City.