Be Kind Online to Celebrate Social Media Kindness Day
What’s one way social media has improved your life? Social media networks are a great way to share memorable pictures, spread good news, and keep in touch with friends and family. On November 9, Social Media Kindness Day aims to transform platforms into beacons of kindness.
According to the official Social Media Kindness Day site, the day’s goal is to make social media a kinder place. Whenever you log into social media, there’s an opportunity to make a positive difference. The movement’s founders point out that each imprint on social media leaves a mark, and those traces should reflect kindness.
A Kindness Movement
The site urges participants to take selfies while making the love sign and tag friends to get them on the kindness bandwagon. It also pushes social media users to take a stand when they see behavior that isn’t right and to check in on people if they are being trolled or experiencing negativity.
However, kindness goes beyond social media. World Kindness Day, observed annually on November 13, was introduced in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement. The organization was created at a Tokyo conference in 1997, according to a blog on Inspire Kindness. That year Japan attempted to create a global kindness movement by bringing multiple nations together at a conference. The World Kindness Movement was the result of those efforts. The movement later held its launch in Singapore in November 2000.
As of now, more than 28 countries form the World Kindness Movement group. World Kindness Day is observed in various countries around the world. The US, Canada, Japan, Italy, Australia, and the UAE are among the countries participating.
How do people celebrate World Kindness Day? By being kind, of course. You can show kindness in simple ways such as smiling at others, holding the door open for people, and complimenting someone.
Small Acts Matter
In Australia, Mi3 says that the Kindness Factory is attempting to clock 10 million acts of kindness before World Kindness Day arrives. “World Kindness Day is all about reminding people how much small acts matter,” Kath Koschel, founder of the Kindness Factory, tells Mi3.
Among the campaign’s projects is a National Free Dress Day in primary schools. One participating school, St Declan’s Catholic Primary School, has created a kindness wall filled with handwritten messages.
Kindness is Heart-Healthy
While acts of kindness benefit the recipients, BBC points out givers also benefit both mentally and physically. Performing acts of kindness produces oxytocin, sometimes called the “kindness hormone,” which also supports the heart. Oxytocin may benefit heart health partly because it promotes nitric oxide, helping blood vessels relax and blood pressure levels fall.
This versatile hormone may also play a role in slowing the aging process by reducing oxidative stress. Kindness also induces the body to produce serotonin, a mood-enhancing hormone that increases happiness.
But most importantly, being kind to others is contagious. Kindness produces positive effects not only in those giving and receiving the kindness, but in anyone observing it. That means seeing someone perform an act of kindness can lift a person’s mood as well.
World Kindness Day helps shine a light on the power of kind acts, but no one has to wait until November 13 to begin. Anyone can start making a conscious effort to be kinder every day and create a more loving world.
