Dangerous NekNominate Trend Gets a Socially Responsible Relaunch – Meet RAKNominate

A new version of the notoriously irresponsible NekNominate online drinking game replaces vodka and rum with 'Random Acts of Kindness'.

Random Acts of Kindness are set to replace 12 shots of tequila in a charitable re-imagining of the recent viral drinking game NekNominate. Instead of downing dangerous quantities of alcohol, players are nominated via social media to perform a random act of kindness (RAK).

This positive twist on the original trend was inspired by Brent Lindeque, a South African with a social conscience. Thousands of others have now taken part in RAKNominate. Nominees have given out food and money in HongKong. One participant donated her hair to make wigs for unwell children. Schoolchildren have been sharing their sandwiches with those in need. Everyday Joes have been buying dinner for hardworking guys trying to earn just a few pennies a day. All of these kindnesses have been triggered by an irresponsible social media trend. Proof that social media can be a powerful tool for good.

Adding to the good vibes spreading like wildfire across the internet are Two Little Fleas. Their community have compiled an instant “Kindness Generator”, ready to provide RAKNominees with all the inspiration they need to do something good. At the click of a button nominees can uncover their own perfect way to 'pay it forward'.

Over the last few days the official RAKNominate facebook page has attracted over 23,000 Facebook likes. Satellite RAKNominate pages are also going viral, chalking up over 20,000 likes combined. In the past 3 days over 2000 people in the UK have tweeted about RAKNomination including celebrities Russell Kane and The Last Leg C4 team.

According to official RAKNominate page owner, Robbie Matthews: "The response was really above any expectations we ever had, to think we had over 20,000 people like the page in over a week was overwhelming. The general public really embraced the idea of doing good deeds and encouraging others to do likewise.”

Over 700,000 people have seen the videos shared on the page in the last 7 days, the insights are really encouraging, with people from all over the world taking part and now Canada and the United States seem to be doing more and more of these everyday.”

Partially inspired by the 2000 movie Pay It Forward in which a student is inspired to change the world for the better by setting up a network of good deeds, RAKNominate has picked up support and influences from across the world. The South African hashtag #ChangeOneThing is trending across the internet while RAK's sister movement NEKdonate encourages nominees to donate to their favourite causes instead of downing alcoholic beverages.

It is RAKNominate, however, which is going viral. The charitable deeds vary widely, from small gestures to big changes. Facebook page owner Robbie Matthews observes that: “the simpler ones seem to be most liked, from buying a family their meal or helping out homeless people by giving them warm food and drink. One of our favourites was a woman who left a shopping voucher under the lid of a baby milk formula box, so when the person that buys the formula gets home they find the voucher, a brilliant surprise."