Online begging has become one of the most popular avenues to reach people donating money. No more standing on the street corner shaking a plastic cup with the sounds of a few coins jingling from a days work of being panhandlers. More of these online beggars are from a different class then your average street beggar. Online beggars are looking for help for anything from a new vacuum to medical bills. Trying to figure out if the people deserve help has always been a problem that people donating have always faced. Sure a bum on the streets looking haggard and dirty sure looks like they need help, but whats to say they won’t take the money and buy something that will put them in a worse situation. Same is true of online beggars, hide behind the secrecy of the internet. Stories of extreme sorrow and pain. How does the giver know if this person is really in need of help?
Begging for money is a one way street.
Sites like cyberbeg and donatemoney2me give a person one dimension to convey their message, then make you pay for that service. Sites like iBEGyou.com give a user more than one line to tell their stories. Users can input images and videos to help tell their stories. Also a messaging system that keeps both sides private if so chosen. Users can add paypal buttons and Amazon wish list apps. One of the best features of this site is the fact that all users can vote on stories added to the site. If the story is good you can vote it up. If the story is bad you can vote it down. The higher the tally of votes the more likely it is to stay on the front page giving you a chance to get read first. People can’t buy their way to the top, its a community effort to keep people who deserve it a chance to get help. After all if you needed help you wouldn’t have money to buy all this ad space to get your spot back to the top and buy fancy icons. After all iBEGyou.com is free to use, you don’t have to pay for anything.
