Code For Good: Can Kindness Be Measured?
All my life, I’ve been fascinated by strangers.
Whether it be experiencing the generosity of others while traveling, hitchhiking, and sleeping on the floor of strangers’ homes; or simply sitting in a park, people watching and wondering about everyone’s lives as they walk by.
I’ve especially always enjoyed the feeling of doing kind things for strangers.
I love to hear stories about other people connecting through acts of kindness, and I’m constantly inspired by projects that bring people together such as Humans of New York, Couchsurfing, or charitable celebrities.
I truly believe that one act of kindness can have a sort of “ripple effect” that promotes many more.
But I’ve wondered… is it possible to quantify this abstract concept? How can we answer the question — “How much impact can a single act of kindness have?”
“How much impact can a single act of kindness have?”
And so… I created KindCard. A project that encourages people to connect through acts of kindness, and see for themselves how far a single act of kindness can go.
As of today, a few hundred of these cards are in circulation in at least seven different countries.
Each card has a unique ID printed on it so that when someone receives a card through an act of kindness, they can visit the site to share how, and where, they received their card.
One kind act leads to the next, and people can see everywhere that their card travels.
Each KindCard has a page where you can see everywhere that specific card has traveled, along with the stories that people submitted when they received it. For example, the card above began in Utah and then was passed off a month later in Mexico.
An interactive map allows users to pinpoint the location they received their KindCard when submitting a new story:
Thanks to the OpenStreetMap API, the map on the submission form can handle a wide range of user inputs across the globe including specific addresses, zip codes, cities, and even landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower or the Grand Canyon.
How It’s Made
The entire frontend of the site is built with React which provides snappy interactions with any maps, markers, or story submissions.
On the backend, the site uses Node.js with Express, Objection as an ORM, and Bcrypt for authenticating users.
The login feature was created to give frequent users a personalized “My Map” page that shows them everywhere that just their KindCards have been.
A few other tools such as MailChimp and MailGun are used to send confirmation and marketing emails to users of the site, as well as to alert me when a new story is submitted.
Hosting is provided by DigitalOcean.
Successes
In line with why I started the project, KindCard’s greatest successes have, to me, been about the people.
I’m reminded of the power and importance of kindness each time I receive a new card submission story or have someone reach out to me that is interested in receiving a few cards to give away.
Through social media, specifically KindCard’s Instagram page, I’ve connected with many people and projects that inspire me and have been able to spread some positivity by sharing a few of my favorite KindCard stories such as the one above.
While it would take a whole other project to try and measure the impact of spreading heartwarming stories on social media, I like to think that there is some benefit to reading about something positive and uplifting.
Perhaps a few people out there decided to do something nice for a random person they encountered after hearing about KindCard. Even if that were true for just a couple of people, it would be worth it.
Challenges
In KindCard’s earliest days, I had all these long-term ideas for the project such as analyzing which parts of the country (or the world) the cards would be used more frequently, how long it would take for them to be passed along from one person to the next, what the average chain/length of submissions would be before a card would die off, and more.
I still think that measuring all those accolades would be a cool idea, but while doing something nice for somebody and passing them along a card isn’t the biggest ask in the world, it appears to be a much bigger ask than I had anticipated.
Over 1,500 KindCards have been printed and given away, but there are less than 200 cards that have stories submitted for them on the site.
Of the cards that do have stories submitted for them, only a few have been logged more than 2–3 times.
I myself also have to spend a lot of time and energy marketing KindCard in order for anyone to contact me and ask for cards. When I’m not on Instagram posting about the project, the whole wheel pretty much stops turning.
So what’s next?
I’m not quite sure.
My optimism (and perhaps naivety) combined with my patience, has made it difficult for me to let KindCard completely die.
While I haven’t spent much time in the past few months actively growing the project, it seems like each time I consider calling it a wrap, there is something in me that says, “But what if…”
The COVID pandemic squashed a few plans I had for introducing KindCard to large in-person events, and in general, wasn’t the best time to be urging people to interact more closely with strangers.
I feel like there are many opportunities for KindCard that remain untapped, but sometimes doubt whether I am the best person to be leading the project.
While I believe in KindCard’s mission and purpose to my core, there are parts to all the social promotion and such that I find icky. Alas, perhaps all that is a necessary evil in doing good these days.
If you’re interested in learning more about KindCard or want to receive cards of your own to give away, you can follow the project on Instagram.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the project, and welcome any advice or ideas you have for getting more people involved.
I’m still not sure “how much impact a single act of kindness” can have, but am hopeful that with more people we can find out.
