Donald Trump, Brexit, Russia: Let’s admit it - some topics that dominate the day-to-day news agenda can really drag us down.
While these issues are, of course, interesting and important to cover, we listened to our readers who wanted somewhere where we could share good news, funny stories and uplifting tales of human kindness – away from the daily grind. And sorry guys but not JUST cat videos.
The HuffPost UK Comedy Facebook page has a loyal and engaged audience but we felt that the ‘comedy’ part restricted us from sharing all the great, good news journalism we have to offer.
Sometimes a story is uplifting but not necessarily funny. Take this gorgeous video of 50 mums and their kids with Down’s Syndrome doing a Carpool Karaoke style video for instance. We would love to share this on a good news page but sharing it under ‘comedy’ is hardly appropriate.
That’s why we will be renaming the page The Brightside as part of a re-brand.
The Brightside will still bring you stories that will hopefully make you laugh, but also journalism that celebrates some of the joy in what can sometimes seem like a bleak, depressing world.
One project that has really inspired The Brightside is HuffPost UK’s HumanKind project. It began as ‘Kindness 31’ in January 2018, when we shared a story of human kindness every day that month.
Following its success, it continued as HumanKind – combining blogs, videos and stories of people being kind.
Highlights have included an exclusive blog by Paloma Faith who urged people to spread ‘an epidemic of kindness’ and a group of unsung heroes in Birmingham who help feed families in crisis. All HumanKind stories can be found here.
We also have started a HumanKind Facebook group, where people can submit their stories of human kindness. It’s a supportive, inclusive and positive community group, which we are hoping to grow.
We hope you enjoy seeing stories shared by The Brightside in your newsfeed and continue to share them with your friends and family on your social networks.