But imagine if these acts of kindness had been filmed and posted on the internet? Would they still have been classified as “kind”,or self-serving and manipulative?
A few weeks ago,Melbourne. This supposed act of kindness went viral,and has now been viewed almost 60 million times.
In a similar incident this week,,a recent immigrant named Esa. This video has been viewed about 6 million times.
The internet is full of these ostensible acts of kindness. Scroll through TikTok or Instagram and you’ll see innumerable videos of homeless people being gifted new cars,disadvantaged children being given shoes or clothes,and random strangers being handed wads of cash.
But let’s be honest:these filmed acts of kindness are not kind at all. Kindness is compassion and generosity without the expectation of a reward,and these videos are designed to solicit clicks. They are disingenuous at best and exploitative at worst. They are calculated acts of self-promotion.
Maree didn’t want flowers,Esa didn’t need his groceries paid for,and neither consented to being filmed and exposed online. Maree says she feels dehumanised by the experience,and Esa told the ABC that the video has caused him embarrassment and shock “because it looked like I’m a desperate person who needs help”.
It isn’t kind to out someone as homeless or poor,or to misrepresent someone as needy or lonely. It might be generous to give someone a car,or cash,or even flowers,but if that gift comes with a side serving of public humiliation,it isn’t generosity.
“We are spreading kindness and compassion in the world!” claim content creators like Rawluk and Raziev. But are they,really? Do their videos inspire us to go out and perform acts of generosity ourselves? Or do they inspire us to hit the like button,comment “AWW” or “Crying!” and then scroll on down to the next video?
It isn’t generous to use other people to boost your ego or your social media profile. And it isn’t generous of us,the viewers,to use these videos as entertainment,or to reassure ourselves that the world isn’t so bad.
Kindness is how we behave when no one else is watching. This isn’t kindness. It is clickbait. Let’s call it by its name.
Kerri Sackville is an author and regular columnist.