Is Kindness Trending on Social Media?

kind·ness
noun
1. The quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.

When I joined Twitter, it felt as if a light turned on in this dark abyss, not just revealing news sources and celebrities, but also a few hundred people from Fresno. When we discovered each other, it was exciting; everyone was welcoming and encouraging. The more people I discovered, from anywhere, the more community I felt. It was a positive experience, indeed. Today, it’s still a place where good news is celebrated and kindness is shared. Positive stories are also told regularly on YouTube and Facebook and other forms of social media, through teens, regular folks, and even players from the NBA.

The Greek dramatist Sophocles said, “Look and you will find it – what is unsought will go undetected.” So I’ve been wondering: is kindness really that prevalent on social media?

Last month, NBA star Roy Hibbert tweeted a picture of an officer giving a homeless man a pair of boots. His fans immediately embraced the story of kindness; he received thousands of comments, retweets, and favorites. The officer never revealed himself, but that wouldn’t be the point, would it? The point here is that kindness builds community.

twitter-roy-hibbert-nba

A few years ago, two filmmakers traveled for 60 days relying on the kindness of strangers to house and feed them. Now they’re taking their documentary, “American Bear: An Adventure in the Kindness of Strangers” on tour. Their blog, IamaKindStranger.com invites people to share their own stories of kindness.

Meanstinks.com is an anti-bullying project geared towards teenage girls by Secret deodorant. Girls are encouraged to share solutions (photos, videos, songs, etc.) to end girl-to-girl bullying. They are provided with Facebook cover photos to post on their own pages, Tumblr posts, and they actively use the #BeKind hashtag on Twitter.

Watch the video that challenges girls to take ownership of their actions:


Kindness is definitely out there on social media. It’s up to us to make it a trend.

be-kind-twitter

 

#BeKind

Alisa Manjarrez, Brand Strategist