Donation Content. Generous or Exploitation?

 

Talking about content on social media, it must have its own negative or positive side. With social media, people are given the freedom to work and express themselves. In particular, it is about getting a new insite and the information will be more accessible for many people, including me. I can learn many new things and gain new knowledge. At the same time, the content on social media is not always good quality. Examples such as sharing content or donations to the poor are recorded secretly. Youtubers who help people who can't afford then shoot the camera in the person's face to capture his expression of sadness or tears of emotion. Content like this is loved by many people, and maybe some of us don't feel there is anything wrong with content like this. Of course, who doesn't like good content? We seem to have seen enough bad content on social media, hoaxes, bullying, anything negative like that, so it's okay to see good content once in a while. After all, we must think that helping people is not wrong and even adds to the reward. Actually, making poor people into content is not a new thing, before that there were many TV shows that broadcast content sharing goodness. Maybe we know a program called "Uang Kaget" that airs on television whose target is poor people then they are given millions of money but have to spend the money, of course the show is made as dramatic as possible to attract a lot of viewers. For example, there is content for a singing talent search event, for example, but what is shown is not only the talent of the participants, but also the poor family background of the participants and their life stories. The more difficult and poorer it is, the more interesting it is and can help increase the rating of a television station and the program.

 

 

Phenomena like this not only occur in Indonesia, in England there are also TV shows that exploit the poor such as "Benefit Street" and "Can't pay? wi'll take it away". The film "Slumdong Millionare" which aired in 2008 was also widely criticized for the same reason, which was about the exploitation of the poor. Therefore, it is not surprising that content like this on social media is also moldy. Because with content like this, creators will get lots of views, lots of likes, lots of followers, and manage to make netizens touched and sad. But the question is, is this good? Have you ever heard of "poverty porn" before? So Poverty porn is a medium that exploits the content of people who are unable to take sympathy and increase ratings, views, likes, and become famous. So, where's the harm?, What's wrong with exposing the underprivileged and the realities of their lives? What's wrong with having them in the spotlight?. I personally if I see this kind of photo's or videos, I will not empathize. Yes helping someone is great, but you can do it without exploiting them. But some photos and videos in my opinion look stupid, they make content like that just to fulfill their ego satisfaction to make some feel better. And the audience indirectly and unconsciously will also be satisfied, they will be more grateful for their lives because they see other people who are more deprived. Poverty porn can form stereotypes and misrepresentations of an area.

In the global context, this stereotype also raises other problems. Like the white savior complex. They are like they see me to help us because we look pathetic, poor, and helpless, which is not true and we're able to help ourself actually. Poverty porn can also oversimplify the issue of poverty. Poverty is a complex issue, and people can be trapped in poverty not only because they are lazy or because they are unlucky, but it could be because of conflict, corrupt government. Clearly poverty cannot be solved by creating a campaign using photos of people crying or photos of people asking for food or making videos to share money. And maybe because of the exploitation of the poor, we become more used to it, we can be sensitive if we see poor people we feel sorry for them and then give them money, and done. We don't see them as someone with dignity, we don't see them as people with their own stories. Instead of exploiting these poor people, like there are YouTubers who make content seeking the sadness and tears of the poor, the massage should be replaced. Not portrait him as a helpless person, sad, maybe we can replace him with more empowering. However, in Islam itself we are prohibited from doing 'riya' which means showing off or sharing but it is visible. As fellow human beings, we should help each other, but sincerely and not showing the sad faces of the people we are helping.