I’m lucky in so many ways; too many to name, really. But one of the ways I count myself lucky is that this blog is mostly read by my family and friends. You might think that doesn’t sound entirely lucky. Surely as a blogger, I want fame and fortune and lots of readers? Wellllll, I’ll admit there’s an element of truth to that. But the reason I consider my small audience to be something lucky? Everyone who reads my blog is kind to me.
People don’t always agree with me. But if they tell me, they do so kindly. And they certainly don’t ever send me horrible abuse.
But many (most?) people who have a wider public platform aren’t so lucky.
In just the last week or so, I’ve seen that currently taking a stance on a controversial issue can earn you relentless bullying, your parents’ religion can earn you accusations of terrorism, and a simple request to a company can earn you comments that “you should be euthanised”. And these are just three of MANY examples this week, and every week.
And I don’t think that’s okay. So when an online acquaintance suggested we start a campaign for online kindness and respect, I jumped at the chance. And so, Keep It Kind Online was born.
Keep It Kind Online is a campaign for more considerate interactions online. We want to bring the humanity back to the internet and share the message that personal attacks and nastiness are not tolerated. We want to encourage people to challenge online attacks when they see them. We don’t want to wait for moderators to step in, we want to moderate ourselves.
So if you know that small acts of kindness can achieve great things. If you believe that debate and disagreement are great, but that personal attacks and abuse are just. not. okay. If you want to do your part to make the internet a better place, join us for the Keep It Kind Online campaign TODAY (Wednesday 7 June).
There are a few ways you can participate:
- Take the pledge by sharing in your status or social media updates: “I pledge to comment with care and to challenge online unkindness when I see it.”
- Use our Facebook profile picture frames.
- Use the #keepitkindonline hashtag liberally on social media.
- Make an effort to make kind comments on blogs and other online platforms.
- Make an effort to challenge the unkind comments you see.
And…
6. Share it with your friends!
Wouldn’t it be great if even those with a large online presence could find that everyone who reads their blog is kind to them? Let’s do our best to make it happen.
The Campground Family 