Olly Donnelly | Staff Writer
I’m very much looking forward to the day, in five or ten years’ time, that I will be presented with the Nobel Peace Prize. I assume it will follow some ticker-tape parades, a few celebrity honours, maybe even a meeting with President Chomsky (my future dream-world is a leftist one, obviously). For I, Dear Reader, have done something amazing today, and will no doubt be praised by generations to come as the selfless paragon of humanity that I am.
At this point, I assume you’re wondering what the specific details of my incredible act of altruism are, and I take the greatest pride in sharing them with you. During my nightly scroll down my Facebook feed, I saw a photo of a starving child. Beneath it, I read “LIKE TO FEED HIM”, so I dutifully liked it. It said “COMMENT TO FEED HIS FAMILY” so I commented too. Finally, I was begged by the photograph to “SHARE TO END POVERTY”. And I, Dear Sir or Madam, shared that post. I set in motion the gears to bring about an end to poverty, all by sharing a photo that several hundred others have, along with a frowny face that I added in myself. Please, hold back your cheers, and don’t thank me. I did it for the world.
They’re photos of other people designed to make you feel good about yourself for a few seconds before moving on with your life, like everyone else who sees them. You’ll see another one of them later, get your fix, and move on with what you were doing.
The two previous paragraphs should be read in a sarcastic voice.
We’ve all seen them though, a photograph of a starving child/wounded puppy/ebola victim with “LIKE TO SAVE HER” or “SHARE IF YOU CARE” or some other crap plastered over them. You do what the photograph says. What happens then? Well, the person who posted the photograph gets a little moment of joy from you making them more popular, followed by a few pennies from you down the line when you go to some clickbait site that they shared. You, in return, get a momentary sense of wellbeing from having somehow aided those who need it through “raising awareness” of animal cruelty, or ebola, or starvation. Everybody wins! Well, everybody who’s already winning does, at least. Not the puppy or the dying people though.
When you like or share these photographs, all you’re doing is showing other people, who’ve presumably encountered this type of photo before, that you ‘care’ about these problems and want them to stop. You indicate to all that you dislike the idea of starving puppies and ebola. Congratulations, you’re not a sociopath! But aside from that, what are these photos? Well, they’re photos of other people designed to make you feel good about yourself for a few seconds before moving on with your life, like everyone else who sees them. You’ll see another one of them later, get your fix, and move on with what you were doing. They are simply good-karma pornography.
“But Olly, I’m raising awareness!”
No, you’re not. The majority of people in society know that animal cruelty, starvation, and disease are things that exist. This isn’t like sharing an article by Everyday Feminism or Human Rights Watch, because these photos don’t actually do anything to change the mind of the person looking at them. They’re just a reminder of your privilege that you’ll naturally block out in order to make it through the day without crying. I contend to you that there are very few people that aren’t aware of these problems. Moreover, there’s no point in burdening the people who aren’t aware, because in all likelihood they are five years old, and children that age with sufficient finances and/or influence to end world hunger are quite rare.
The majority of people in society know that animal cruelty, starvation, and disease are things that exist. This isn’t like sharing an article by Everyday Feminism or Human Rights Watch, because these photos don’t actually do anything to change the mind of the person looking at them.
Having established that sharing that photograph won’t do anything to save the world, let’s look at what you can do with your internet time to make some kind of a difference to the lives of people who could probably do with a bit of help. For a start, you can follow blogs like Upworthy or Everyday Feminism, which actually broach real issues that people would benefit from understanding. You can discuss what you find with other people, and maybe even share the post if it’s a good one. Feel free to add your opinion too, because your friends will probably be more likely to check things out if they see what you thought of it. It’s not so hard to inform yourself about things that do matter in a way that changes attitudes within society, and you might even enjoy it.
But there’s another, more quantifiable way you can help, even in some small way. For 90 per cent of the people reading this article, I guarantee that when you click “New Tab” you’re presented with either a blank page, or Google. So why does that matter? Well, there’s a site called “Tab for a Cause” that you can set as your ‘new tab’ page. You’ll be presented with a small advert at the bottom corner of your screen, before you immediately move to a new page. The ad-revenue, however, will go to a charity of your choice (mine is Human Rights Watch). It may only be a penny here, a cent there, but it racks up over time, and more so if you share it. You’re using your internet browsing for good, and you don’t even need to look at a wounded puppy to get there.
To wrap up, ladies and gents, you may not be getting the Nobel Prize any-time soon, and that particular puppy you wanted to save is probably dead, but there is hope! The world is a pretty scary place, and good-karma porn on Facebook isn’t helping to make it any less so. So I’ll ask you to do this. First, get Tab for a Cause. Then, the next time you see a “Share this to save her” photo on your timeline, why not open a new tab instead, and look up that YouTube video of a kitten riding on the back of a tortoise? You’ll be doing a whole lot more good that way, for the world, for yourself, and for that kitten’s self-esteem.
