Many commended Ivana Alawi for highlighting problems relating to mendicancy in her latest vlog, but, as with everything in the toxic world that is social media, there were a few whiners.
One of them, a Twitter user, accused the sexy vlogger of engaging in poverty porn, a catch-all phrase defined as any activity that exploits the poor for entertainment, among others.
"Dude pls stop saying you're inspired about Ivana's video, IT'S A POVERTY PORN y'all," the netizen wrote.
Another posted: "Y'all praising Ms. Ivana Alawi because of her YT vid lately lamao that's POVERTY PORN."
Is it?
In the video, Ivana disguised herself as a beggar hoping to catch the attention of a few good souls.
She explained, “Kasi araw-araw ‘pag lumalabas ako may nakikita akong mga taong kumakatok sa binatana, nanghihingi, may dala pang bata minsan, may dalang matanda. Kasi mahirap talaga ang buhay at dumoble pa ang hirap nu’ng nagka pandemya tayo. Gusto ko maranasan ano ‘yung feeling nila and also rewarding the people who help out...So manghihingi ako ng pamasahe, kung sino magbibigay sa akin i-times 1000 ko!"
Her fans deemed her effort commendable, noting it is way better than creating content that are both toxic and negative.
"I'm no subscriber, but I think what she's doing helps more than being a self-righteous, virtue-signaller online," one said.
"Minsan di mo na talaga maintindihan mga tao e. Poverty porn? How about helping in a way she can? You can do good with your best intentions and people will still criticize you. Say what you want, at the end of the day, she helped those people. And for sure she inspired others to do the same. This type of influence is what we need from these so called 'influencers,'" another wrote.
What do you think?