Random Acts of Kindness Online: 30 Ideas for the Internet

The internet rewards outrage. Kindness online is a small act of rebellion, and it reaches people you would never meet.

Online kindness is fast, free and often more needed than we think: behind every account is a person having a day. These ideas take one to fifteen minutes and need nothing but a phone.

Messages that matter

1. Message an old friend: "I was thinking of you. How are you really?"
2. Thank a teacher, mentor or doctor who made a difference years ago.
3. Send a voice note to someone who lives alone.
4. Reply properly to a message you have been ignoring.
5. Congratulate someone on a work anniversary or a new job with a real sentence, not just a click.
6. Write to someone grieving on the anniversary of their loss.
7. Send a friend a photo of a happy memory you share, with one line about why it still makes you smile.
8. Reply to a group chat where someone shared news that got no answers.

For creators and small businesses

9. Write a detailed five-star review for a small business that served you well.
10. Leave a kind, specific comment for a creator whose work helped you.
11. Share a small creator's work with a friend who would love it.
12. Recommend a local tradesperson or freelancer in a community group.
13. Tell an author what their book meant to you.
14. Report a scam or impersonation account that is targeting a small business.

Helping strangers

15. Answer a beginner's question in a forum with patience.
16. Share a job post for someone looking for work.
17. Share a local charity's appeal or a lost-pet post.
18. Contribute a correction or a missing fact to a wiki you use.
19. Write a helpful, honest how-to post about something you know well.
20. Donate to a crowdfunder for someone in genuine need (check it is legitimate).
21. Write a clear, kind answer to a question you once struggled with, so the next person finds it.
22. Offer a free hour of your skill (a CV check, a translation, a design fix) in a community group.
23. Add alt text to the images you post so people using screen readers can enjoy them too.

A gentler internet

24. Scroll past an argument without adding fuel.
25. Post something encouraging instead of something clever.
26. Defend someone being piled on, calmly, or report the abuse.
27. Credit the original creator when you share something.
28. Think twice before sharing a screenshot that could embarrass someone.
29. Unfollow accounts that make you unkind, and follow ones that make you better.
30. Check before you share: kindness includes not spreading false information.

Tips that keep it genuine

• Specific beats generic: "Your video on budgeting helped me pay off my card" means far more than a heart emoji.
• Never send money or personal details to strangers who ask for them; kindness and caution go together.
• Do not argue in the comments: a private kind message often helps more.
• Log off kindly too: time away from the screen is kind to you.

Why it matters

A 2018 meta-analysis found a small-to-medium boost to the wellbeing of people who perform acts of kindness (Curry et al., 2018), and experiments show that people who do something kind consistently underestimate how good the receiver feels (Kumar & Epley, 2023). Your kindness lands harder than you think.

Kindness ideas for everyday life. Keep yourself and others safe, offer rather than insist, and respect people's privacy. If you are struggling, see crisis help.