Post #961096

2026-04-06 06:02 UTC

I'll be completely honest...I am very suspicious of most mutual aid posts that ask for wide distribution. So many of them come from accounts that have very, very little organic interaction except for things related to whatever situation they're in. It feels really icky, and like an easy way for scammers to take advantage of the current sociopolitical environment. I'm sure there are plenty of people who are legitimately in need. I just wish there was a better way to validate that the need is genuine.

Replies (3)

@ami_angelwings@urusai.social 2026-04-06 06:06

@neatchee@urusai.social this is why i do all the questions of the day and polls, it's all part of my long game scam to seem like i'm not actually a bot

Open ##2563907
@BigShellEvent@toot.cat 2026-04-06 06:08

@neatchee@urusai.social tbh I'd mind less if they use the "online panhandler" tag instead of "mutual aid" tag, considering I suspect a good number of them would absolutely refuse to mutually aid anyone else. I just stick to the people I have reasons to trust.

Open ##2563909
@yon@sakurajima.moe 2026-04-06 18:06

@neatchee@urusai.social There’s a reason why countries with strong government ran social security networks have an awful lot of overhead. As you say the difference between someone in need and someone taking advantage is honestly impossible to differentiate from over POV unless we actually know them. It’s really a topic one could spend years talking about and make zero progress :( I think my only contribution (and I realize how incredibly far away we are from doing this, and how many steps are in between) would be that I fully believe the most humans and cheapest for society solution is a fully livable (not minimum wage definition) UBI for all and universal healthcare coverage. (That’s not to say that I’m not sympathetic and have empathy, but it doesn’t scale well.)

Open ##2563910