There exists a Reddit subculture dedicated to doing nice things for complete strangers. One day, a stranger on the internet might send you a pizza. The next day, your mom might receive a birthday card from 30 people she has never met. You might even have a free Steam game donated to you.
The subculture is open to anyone. You just need to commit to pay it forward. Which means when someone does something nice for you, you do something nice for someone else. And so on. So, here are the best subreddits where strangers pay it forward. And you could be one of those strangers.
Random Kindness is the catch-all subreddit of this type. How kind you can be is the only limitation of this heartwarming place. It relies on the kindness of strangers and works on a system of offer and request. If you have something to give, the chances are that there is someone out there who would genuinely appreciate receiving it.
Monetary requests are a strict no-no. You cannot trade a gift for something better. As a rule, all donors should have an account that is at least 90 days old and boast 300 comment karma points on Reddit.
Random Kindness is a nice community where you can pay it forward with your heart.
RandomKindness does not allow gifts. But join this subreddit and you can be Santa Claus in someone’s life. The gifting relies on Amazon Wishlists. Make one and then insert it into your submission flair box. The colored flair tags appear next to your submission title when you post something on Reddit.
Community members can browse these wishlists and gift each other stuff from Amazon at random. Some people mention what they’ve purchased. Some people leave it as a surprise.
Above all, this subreddit is more friendly and social than any other of its type. The people on it hold special activities, contests, and even venture out into the real world together and meet up.
A Place for Card Kindness uses only cards and postcards to message kind words. This subreddit could hold a special place in your heart if it evokes a sense of nostalgia in you. Cards and postcards seem so outmoded today. But this community’s enthusiasm for them will surprise the skeptic in you.
Cards can be store-bought or handmade. It can even be a good ol’ birthday card if you fill the Birthday Calendar on the subreddit. Or it can just be a simple pick-me-up card for someone who’s down.
For instance, check out the Instagram feed or the screen above for a quick glance at the variety of offerings.
It’s safe to say that Reddit and the gaming community have had a long and close relationship. Many gaming subreddits are more active than the official forum communities from the game developers themselves. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that RandomActsOfGaming boasts more than 137,000 subscribers.
In particular, this subreddit is all about gaming giveaways. So many awesome things are being given away here for free. Steam codes aplenty along with stuff from publishers like the Humble Bundle. And sometimes, you can even walk away with a game of your own choosing.
By being a member of this subreddit you’re pretty much guaranteed to pick up a free game. Eventually. And if you’re short on patience, you can always check out one of these sites where you can download free PC games
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.
The subreddit’s tagline says it all: “Restoring Faith in Humanity, One Slice at a Time”. You have to be 18+ to enter this subreddit and start fulfilling each other’s requests for pizzas. Each random pizza is meant to deliver goodness. But no sob stories or mooching is allowed.
You will see little tags next to a Redditor’s entry that shows how many pizzas they have donated or received.
Interestingly, RAOP was the subject of a Stanford study in 2014 (PDF). Researchers looked at the language of the requests and how that made people go out of their way to send pizzas to strangers.
It’s safe to say that humanity never leaves its pets behind. This is the sentiment behind Random Acts of Pet Food that has people asking for help on behalf of animals. Many posts are about people down on their luck and unable to feed their pets good food.
And that’s a magnet for charitable folk jumping into the community with offers of surplus food. You will find many threads where compassion shines through and gratitude follows in response.
This subreddit sets out to prove that sharing a bit of spontaneous music with others goes a long way. The community contributes footage of performers that can take you by surprise. Like the daughter who is taken aback when her dad starts singing Ave Maria in the hotel lobby.
The subreddit has only two simple rules. The music has to be a random find and you have to keep it kind. Go ahead, make someone’s day.
You can always lean on a community for advice and help. A stranger might answer the call. The r/Assistance subreddit is all about that spirit of solidarity between Redditors. The subreddit is well moderated with a clear set of rules.
Use the flair tags on the right to filter through the requests, advice, and job offers among other things. You can also use the dropdown filter at the top to filter past posts. The gray “Request Fulfilled” tag suggests that people are eager to offer help.
NB: Stay aware of scams and scammers if you decide to participate in the community.
More Ideas to Inspire Kindness
These are the kinds of hidden online communities that can really rekindle your love for the internet. And there are other “random acts” subreddits for coffee, cookies, and Christmas too. Just remember that it’s always better to give than to receive!
While it may feel like it at times, there is no lack of kindness in the world. It may just be buried under the bad news and social media noise that we’re all exposed to on a daily basis. Which is where these Reddit search tips and tricks
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will prove useful.
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