So recently I have created a new twitter account to spread the kindness message and to see what twitter is actually all about. I had a twitter before but I never really used it until now. Having my account now, I go on every day and scroll through tweet after tweet of many different topics ranging from the news, to sports, pop culture, the horse world, and of course advertisements. I love it honestly because it keeps me updated on major things going on in the world right now big or little. Overall its fun! :D
So recently I got a few tweets from a page advocating for an APP called Outpour. Recently created by a guy named Calvin Lui from California, the only way I can describe this APP is like a kindness outlet. You create a profile where you can send quick kind messages (like tweets) to anyone you like, whether they be in your contacts, or just random users on the APP. All these outpour "tweets" will be sent as anonymous text messages to their phones and on their outpour profiles. That way the kindness and can be spread. Like if you're just feeling up and kind one day, like feeling good, you can go a spread it around to anyone you like, anonymously.
I really don't enjoy the word anonymously because usually it gives people the power to be cruel and hateful on the internet. The best example of this I have would be ask.com. I have told people over and over ask.com is just an excuse for people to be mean to each other and avoid blame. Just because someone says something online and their name is not on it does not mean they are any less responsible for it. Sites like that just allow the spread of hatred and negative attitudes online and that is what we are trying to prevent.
With the creation of outpour, a revolutionary way to spread happiness and positive energy around, maybe the happiness can be spread around a bit more. However there is one problem in the form of one word that inhibits outpour of doing its job . . . anonymously. A lot of the time (I'm not saying all the time-I am not a mind reader or anything!!! PPPssssshhhh!!! . . . 0.o) people only say or do nice things to get something in return. Whether it be something physical, like money, or a prize, through force of an authority figure or most of the time, just by the gratitude and recognition that they recognized your generosity and appreciate it. In a psychology 101 class, our professor taught us that humans by nature are not altruistic. We only make altruistic actions for something in return even if it is just good feelings or vibes.
Now I'm not saying that getting good feelings or happiness in return for generous actions is a bad thing! In fact if you find happiness is doing good and being kind then you are one amazing individual. However in terms of the outpour APP we have to go back to that one annoying word, anonymous. Because outpour is anonymous in nature that people may not be as inclined to use it because they are not getting the gratification and good vibes in return. You only say nice things to be nice and that's it. Nothing in return really besides the likes and comments that you can see. Maybe if you sign your name or make it obvious that it's you in some way, your friends will appreciate the nice messages, but overall, especially those that remain nameless, will not let you know that they appreciate the message, leaving you on the short end of the stick.
Feeling like your on the short end of the stick isn't a bad feeling, I feel that way sometimes. (hey, we're all human. Don't judge.) When I was using outpour for the first time I thought it was the most amazing APP ever. I sent a bunch of nice messages to friends in my phone who did not have outpour accounts. I felt so proud of myself. I let out all my kindness and happiness until I was physically exhausted. However a little while after when I heard nothing in response, that's when I started to feel bad, angry almost, as if I had been cheated out of the good vibes to savor. That's when I realized how hard being kind actually is.
Kindness from the definition on google is said to be the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate. It says nothing about a trade in policy. That's like saying: "I'll only be friendly if you are friendly to me. I'll only be generous if you pay me first. I'll only be considerate if people are considerate to me." These things don't generate kindness, they repel it. Imagine if everyone went around expecting some form of kindness towards them before they gave any in return, you know how awful a world that would be. It would be a world full of cruel judgmental selfish zombies who walk around and suck out people's mind with meanness, which will drip out their ears like . . . okay I'm done now XD But you get the idea. What if the world was like that? Do you know how horrible that would be? The world would explode! It would be the zombie apocalypse!
The point is ... being kind is hard. I discovered that today. However in the end it will be totally worth it for a more loving accepting future. No apocalypse. NO mean zombies. Please.
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