Do Videos of “Helping the Homeless” Actually Help?
You’re scrolling through Facebook or YouTube and then you see it, a video of someone following a homeless person to see what they do with money they’ve just been given. You almost scroll past, but your curiosity gets the best of you and you start watching. By the end of the video, your heart is touched and you are crying, or you feel a little uncomfortable with what happened. At a first glance, it could seem like they are doing a selfless act by sometimes giving away large amounts of money and items. This results in the poster possibly gaining a MASSIVE number of views, followers, and of course money. It’s not like the do-er and poster doesn’t have any idea of how filming this deed will attract these things. Some of them do it for that very purpose. They feed off people’s gentle hearts and addiction to sad sob stories with seemingly happy endings. Why does the vlogger have to exploit the person? Why can’t they just give them money for a meal and not follow them around expecting the worst?
Now some people will state this is how they these creators of content make money to give back, which I will talk about this a little later. But do they really need to film every minute of this experience? If I were at rock bottom, dirty, and hungry, the last thing I would want is for a camera to be shoved in my face. I just find these videos pointless because in the end, is it really helping these people who are in need, or are they just promoting the people who are filming?
Am I against people helping homeless people? NO! I just am against the exploitation of these people and their unfortunate circumstances to gain things. Do homeless people need money? Yes, but they need more than just that or a backpack of stuff.
There are 553,742 homeless people in America (endhomelessness.org), and the most common reasons for homelessness:
• Substance Abuse.
• Housing Costs. One of the leading factors of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing.
• Escaping Domestic Violence.
• Poverty.
• Disabilities and Mental Health.
(lifebridgenorthshore.org)
They need help and resources which a backpack with a blanket, $500, and an iPhone are not going to fix. By the end of the week, they will be out of money and hungry sleeping on the cold hard ground.
Amelia Tait, a freelance journalist, agrees with me. In her article, Are vloggers exploiting homeless people?, she states, “I cynically wonder whether these interactions really need to be filmed. Well-meaning students are one thing, but on YouTube there is a whole genre of charitable videos that are, on second glance, anything but” (Tait Newstatesman.com). Here is the link to the article, https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/2018/07/are-vloggers-exploiting-homeless-people.
While there are some bad people out there that only have personal gain on their minds, there are the good people too, and I would be doing a disservice in not looking at the other side of the coin. How YouTubers could be helping the homeless.
When looking at these videos, it’s hard not to look at how many views they can get! This brings me to my first point being these videos spread awareness to its viewers. These videos get millions of views. That means millions of people are becoming aware and are learning about the crisis of homelessness. At the same time, these videos humanize the circumstance of homelessness and make it more familiar and less uncomfortable. After all, a homeless person is still a person and should be treated as such. I feel that a lot of people are uncomfortable by the situation someone is in, and these videos put the homeless person in a better light by making them an actual person. They can show how everyone could and maybe should do something, which brings me to my next point.
These videos help inspire others to help. Not only do they spread awareness of a crisis, but they can lead others to help a person in need. My church has a saying, “do for one what you can’t do for all.” These videos definitely show this in action. While many of the viewers don’t have the power to buy houses, or give away thousands of dollars, they show that they can help in any way they can. When looking at how big of a situation homelessness is, the videos have the power to put it into a smaller focus. And who knows, maybe they can inspire people to do so much more than give away loose change. A viewer could give with a deeper impact like donating to homeless shelters instead of to one person.
A popular YouTube channel, MrBeast, has over 54.3 million subscribers! MrBeast uploads many videos doing different things including doing things for the homeless. These charitable videos range from giving a man $20,000, to buying out a whole store and donating everything to the Salvation Army (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha4tRQwKIUg). If MrBeast didn’t post YouTube videos and gain the following he has, he wouldn’t make money, and therefore losing his ability to do these things. Creators posting their videos to YouTube for people to watch helps them make money. When you watch a video like this for more than 30 seconds, you are helping the creators make money. They also make money with the help of ads they put into their videos that you watch (intuit.com).
While some of the posted content on YouTube may not being giving a lot of help long term, or may be posted for the wrong reasons, they are still helping. However, I feel this world needs to change their views of what helping is. I say this because this issue of homelessness in America is so much bigger and more important than just for entertainment purposes. I have given food to a homeless man on the beach and hugged and prayed for him, I have seen a man eating a burger he just dug out of the trash, and I have talked to homeless people who have been kicked out of Walmart while just trying to stay warm. People making videos need to think of how this can motivate more people the right way, and how to offer lasting help. Sometimes a little goes a long way. Remember, do for one what you can’t do for all.
What do you think of these videos? Have you ever been inspired by watching one to help this issue?
