Stories of Kindness from Around the World

For quite a while now, I've been trying to drastically reduce my FB activity, because there was this kind of a lost feeling when I logged in. My news feed was always filled with news of negativity, aggression, and gossip, and the comments were usually of people fighting about something. I spent an entire day unliking a lot of pages I had liked over the years and exiting groups that served no purpose to me. I thought if I liked more positive pages and joined more positive groups, I would feel better. But then I realised, though I had a choice of what pages I followed, I have over 1000 friends on my friend list, over whom I have no control; whatever they share and their activity lands on my news feed.

Then I thought, I’m sure there are many people like me on Facebook who might like to use the platform for something more positive. I wasn't sure where to start. But just to test the waters, I conducted a small experiment where I posted the following on my wall -

"Hey guys! I have a question for you. Please leave your answers in the comment section or inbox it to me. This is not a promotional question or a forward. Just something of a personal experiment. :)
What are 3 things you feel each person can do, that can bring about a major social change?"

While a random share on my profile gets only about 10-15 likes and 0 comments, I received about 40 responses to this status update within no time. There were people who I had not connected to for a while who inboxed me their answer, along with a HI, which led to deeper conversations.

Once people replied, I sent them the following reply -

"Dear ________, thank you for participating in my little experiment.
This post moved ____ people to think about 3 small changes they can do to make this world better. Can you help me make more people think about this and consider making 3 small changes in their life, by posting a similar status on your wall? :)
(You don't need to share my post. You can copy and paste it on your wall and tag me in the comments so I can follow the replies. The intention is to use our networking platforms to set a trigger of positive change in the world, however small and insignificant it may seem. For anything to change, we begin the work from within, before without, and this could be a start.) #EachOneChangeOne”

A lot of them reshared this on their wall and got beautiful responses themselves. I’m not sure how long this chain went, but I was glad that some people used at least a couple of minutes away from negativity.

I’m also not sure how effective Facebook can be in the context of kindness, because after all it is virtual. But the fact that most of us spend a considerable amount of time online, it would be great if we spent most of that time and space for spreading positivity and encouraging acts of kindness!

Some thoughts I had about Random Acts of Kindness on FB were-

• Sending an anonymous surprise gift to the friend who always likes your posts!
• Calling a friend who you constantly message otherwise.
• Instead of just commenting on a post of a friend that inspired you/moved you/you found it nice, pick up the phone and tell it personally. Etc!

I feel Facebook should be just step 1 of spreading kindness, because after all it's virtual, easier and in our comfort zone. It's ok for starters! But the engagement should gradually lead to more activities in person that involves human interaction. With more such interactions, which lets you step out of your comfort zone, it should eventually lead you to having lesser time to spend idle online. The shift in you when you experience joy by direct interaction is irreplaceable. Facebook can be an enabler, not a replacement. :)