Kindness Mob uses TikTok to combat online harassment

The Kindness Mob, a TikTok initiative founded in 2023 by digital marketing specialist Tyler Brickley, is using social media coordination to combat online harassment. The movement operates by identifying individuals who are being bullied, ignored, or mocked on the platform and directing its followers to flood those accounts with supportive and kind comments.

Brickley describes the strategy as a form of “positive trolling,” repurposing the mechanisms of online harassment—such as anonymity and mass coordination—to change the tone of digital conversations. The initiative has grown to over half a million followers and has organized approximately 350 collective campaigns.

One recipient of this movement was Laura Tigeleiro, a New York resident with multiple sclerosis. After facing persistent mockery regarding physical changes caused by her condition, she received over 15,000 supportive comments following a Kindness Mob intervention. Experts, including Yale University professor Nicholas Christakis, note that such movements demonstrate the potential for social contagion to spread positive behavior across digital cultures.