Homeless Web Trends That Need to Stop

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-11-05 16:00:00 UTC
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The marginalization of people has perpetuated society and nestled its way onto the web. Twitter, blogs, and YouTube can be an excellent forum for confronting issues of poverty and homelessness. But they can also breed bad ideas, stereotypes, trends that hinder our progress towards combatting homelessness in America.

Here are three ugly web trends that need to stop.

1. "Homeless" as a derogatory term on Twitter

Search "homeless" on Twitter. I just did, and here's what I found (yes, I'm calling this person out): "@hannahhhp yep i definitely look homeless today."

Ignorant, right? This disparaging use of homeless is all over the Twittersphere, right next the the tweets of nonprofits holding coat drives or recruiting volunteers for Thanksgiving dinners.

"Homeless" (or #homeless) does not mean stupid or unkempt or drunk or any other kind of stereotype. If you're capable of jumping on the Twitter train, you can enlighten yourself about the causes of homelessness - including socio-economic disparity, mental health, poverty, PTSD, joblessness. If you're going to tweet about homelessness, try and help someone out instead of perpetuating ignorance.

2. "Funny Homeless Signs" Humor

This series of funny panhandler signs is constantly popping up on blogs and email chains. If features such classics as, "Ninjas killed my family; need money for ninja lessons," and "Why lie? I want a beer." One blog that featured these signs even began with this line: "We need more homeless people like this... lol."

Yes, homeless people are people. When you lost your home, you don't lost your personality. Why is it so surprising that people without a home can be witty, smart, and resourceful?

But more importantly - why do we get such a kick out of others' misfortune?

3. "Bum Fight" Videos on YouTube

Is the web be fueling the rise in violence against homeless people?  Brutal, violent acts against the homeless have increased exponentially in the past decade, to the point that national advocacy groups are calling for homeless hate crime protection.

But here's the disturbing part: as violence against the homeless has increased, so have online videos featuring violent acts against the homeless. In July, nearly 86,000 degrading videos of homeless people were posted on YouTube, 15,000 more than a year earlier. And since "Bum Fights" began gaining popularity on the web in 2001, over 6.8 million videos have been sold.

The people featured in these films need to be helped, not humiliated. This is another trend that needs to stop.

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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