A number of sites have adopted the idea of paying it forward with status updates and acts of kindness neatly documented on the Internet. Yahoo has launched the You In? campaign in order to share acts of kindness online.
Here’s how Yahoo describes the campaign:
“Help us create a ripple of good around the world with purple acts of kindness. Update your status to share what you’re doing to spread holiday joy, then inspire others to join you by asking, “You in?”Yahoo! will also be doing our own purple acts of kindness inspired by your updates. So whether you pay for someone’s groceries or drop off a coat for the homeless, you’ll be encouraging people around the world to join in acts of kindness.”
Like many sites of this nature, the idea hinges around sharing in detail your random acts of kindness and plots them on a global map. The site revolves around briefly describing your good deed in a Yahoo status message, which is then plotted on a global map. Right now messages include things like “Connie is buying coffee for everyone at work today. You in?” and “Dropped off supplies to the local Humane Society and to the local women’s shelter”. And then there are gems like this one: “I just returned a case of wine that was mistakenly delivered to our house. Husband had to be dragged along w/this decision.”
The program also allows Flickr uploads to visually represent good deeds and acts of kindness. With only 161 updates so far, the campaign is not exploding, but it’s difficult to knock a campaign based around kindness. Flickr only has a few submissions, but the program is expected to pick up in the next month or so.
Yahoo should also think about incorporating Facebook or Twitter into the event in order to increase the exposure of a great campaign that anybody can participate in.
Aside from ‘You In?’, Yahoo also runs regular monthly campaigns though its Yahoo For Good program.
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