‘Kindness is contagious’

“I HOPE you know that you still have a lot of potential to be good.”

This is 17-year-old Zoe Gabriel’s message to online bullies when asked about the negativity she recently received for her TikTok content.

On January 8, Zoe shared her excitement on social media after her dad bought her her first “luxury bag.” However, some TikTok users disagreed with Zoe’s use of the adjective “luxury” to describe the brand, with most of them arguing that Charles & Keith is not a luxury brand.

Read: Teen gets online hate for calling Charles and Keith a ‘luxury’ brand

Due to the online hate she received for posting about a bag she was “excited to have,” Zoe felt compelled to share her humble beginnings that caught the attention of the online community.

Due to her positive outlook on life, netizens praised her kindness, humility, and upbringing and were deeply moved by her story.

Get to know Zoe!

Zoe Aaleah Gabriel is a Filipina teen who is currently based in Singapore. According to her, her family moved to the country when she was just four years old.

This viral TikTok user has creativity running in her blood as her hobbies include painting, writing poetry, and singing.

Zoe’s recreation of the famous Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh

In an exclusive interview with republicasia, Zoe shared she wants to pursue creative writing in college as she really enjoys getting lost in the colorful world of poetry.

Zoe’s contagious kindness

Despite the hurtful words thrown at her by strangers who saw her content on TikTok, it doesn’t seem to faze Zoe and her intrinsic kindness.

When asked about her perspective on online hate and bullying, Zoe told republicasia that one is bound to experience both good and bad things on social media due to the differing standpoints people believe in.

However, it is not an excuse to treat others unkindly.

“You’re going to get both the good things and the bad things out of it so I think the hate and the bullying are bound to happen because of different perspectives that we all share,” Zoe said. “I also think that as much as possible, we should be kind with our words.”

The 17-year-old also reminded her fellow internet users to try and be cautious of the things they say and post on social media because, ultimately, they will be “talking to real people who have real feelings.”

Zoe also had something to say about people who are “acting as an online bully.” 

“I hope you know that you still have a lot of potential to be good,” she continued. “And I know that you’re a good person and that I hope you know that you are still loved and just choose your words wisely.”

Why kindness is contagious

Being kind to others is not just an act of benevolence. It also has lasting effects on people’s mental and physical health.

Kindness is actually contagious because it is said to light up the pleasure hub of the brain, resulting in a surge in serotonin and oxytocin, two of the four happiness hormones that the body creates.

According to Dr. David Hamilton, when people receive kindness, they feel compelled to do the same thing to others. Hence, people are more likely to show compassion and extend help to somebody else.

Also called social contagion, when someone is being kind, something inside tells people they should be doing the same thing, inspiring them to observe the same warm gesture they received.

One person’s goodwill could ultimately infect other people, with it spreading to others’ consciousness every time an act of kindness is done to another person.

“As you go about the rest of your day, repercussions of your kind behavior continue to ripple on, just as a pebble dropped in a pond creates waves that lift a lily pad at the other side of the pond,” Hamilton wrote.

Kindness is something innate to people, which Zoe has proven even after drawing all sorts of negative comments about her and her family. But this animosity did not stop her from spreading kindness.