Behind every screen recording in search of a 'like', profit or fame, a light of humanity goes out. "Do not be just another spectator of someone else's pain; turn off the camera button and turn on your heart with true empathy 🙏.
As Galatians 6:9 beautifully says: “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
Author: Cira Arroyo Fuentes | © 2026, Costa Rica | Monday, September 7, 2026, 11:58 AM
☕ Collaboration: PayPal.me/CiraArroyoFuentes
SINPE: 6083-1579 |
Summary for a Quick ReadToday, the ambition to make money on social media is dehumanizing society. It is outrageous to see how people prefer to hold up a phone to record tragedies, accidents, or bloody fights rather than step in to save a life. We are becoming passive spectators of other people's pain, allowing situations to reach the absolute limit just to get clicks and monetize suffering. There is a painful irony: while influencers line their pockets by copying content or interviewing those affected, the true victims continue to face massive hardships. We need to stop consuming and participating in this perverse show, turn off the screens, and regain true human empathy by offering direct help.
Messaje
Nowadays, I look with great concern at how the vast majority of people want to make a living from social media and draw a monthly salary from it. However, I constantly ask myself: what do they truly have to offer that is of actual value? It hurts me to see the current lack of originality and creativity. It is a tremendous injustice that someone who dedicates themselves to catching accidents and tragedies earns more money—preferring to hold a camera rather than extend a hand to help a person in danger.
As the Word reminds us in Proverbs 3:27: “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.” Unfortunately, today people prefer personal gain over the commandment to help our neighbor.
Not long ago, I logged into my social media accounts to share my own messages and was met with a constant bombardment of natural disasters and unfortunate news. In Costa Rica, we live on a constant rocking chair—we know what it feels like to have earthquakes all the time—and I find it exhausting to see how people take advantage of tremors and tragedies in other countries just to shock people and gain clicks. But what truly alarmed me was seeing a video of a terrible assault involving several women. The outrageous part was not just the violence, but seeing how the people around them became passive spectators. In the video, it is clearly visible how some individuals tried to step in to break up the fight, but others pulled them back, telling them not to get involved. Some simply wanted to watch the show, others claimed that it was none of their business and that they should let them settle the problem themselves, and many others because they were recording and did not want anyone getting in front of the camera and ruining the video they were filming.
This attitude makes me think of what Matthew 24:12 says: “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” We are seeing in real-time how that love and compassion are freezing behind a cell phone screen.
I feel a deep sense of indignation seeing that they prefer to let a scene reach the absolute limit, regardless of whether the victim ends up in a hospital or in the grave, just to capture a complete and bloody recording to monetize it. It does not benefit them to stop the violence in time because their goal is to be the first to publish a shocking video. Meanwhile, families are destroyed and children are left alone in the world because of blind ambition.
This makes me think that going out on the street nowadays has become dangerous. I notice that people are no longer just looking to record tragedies that happen by accident; they are willing to provoke scenes just so they look as realistic as possible to make money on the internet. What is happening to people's minds? Do they expect the entire world to put on a show of pain for them to record for free?
We need to stop this; we must stop consuming and participating in that content which creators intentionally make more and more shocking just to get more likes, more comments, and to ensure it gets shared more so they can make more money. The most ironic and painful part in many of these cases is that the true victims gain absolutely nothing. They continue to face immense hardships after the accidents, violations, or acts of malice that others have inflicted upon them, as well as from the natural disasters they have lived through. Meanwhile, those who line their pockets with money are the influencers who interview them, those who record the shocking scenes, or even worse, those who simply copy them from others to share them as if they were their own.
There is so much need in the world and so many people who require real support. Regrettably, even donations have become difficult because money is stolen in many places, forcing us to provide help in a strictly personal way to ensure it actually reaches those who need it.
I write this because I refuse to remain silent in the face of this dehumanization. Social media should be a space to build, not to profit from someone's final moments of life or the suffering of others. We need to start regaining true human empathy. As Galatians 6:9 beautifully says: “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
Final Reflection: It is alarming to see this hidden competition over who can record the scene first. Instead of using the cell phone immediately to call the Red Cross, the hospital, or the authorities—making use of those crucial seconds that mean life or death for someone—the very first thing people do is turn on the camera. While you are recording out of ambition, that life could be slipping away. The question I leave you with today is: Which button are you going to turn on? The one on your cell phone to make money from a shocking video, or the button in your heart to step in and save a human being?
Bibliography
- The Holy Bible (New King James Version / Reina-Valera 1960 equivalent). Scriptures cited: Proverbs 3:27, Matthew 24:12, Galatians 6:9.
