Ordinary citizens use social media to raise awareness and inspire others to help the homeless.

Rahat, a Virginia-based magician with a popular YouTube account, had a clever idea to help a local homeless man named Eric.

Begging for money can lower one’s pride and self-esteem. Instead of simply giving the homeless man money as a handout, Rahat gave Eric a fake lottery ticket so that when he cashed it, he would think he actually earned $1,000.

Overcome with emotions from his new small fortune, Eric offers to share the money with Rahat, which he politely declines. “You earned it,” Rahat insists.

The video has been viewed over 14 million times.

Watch the video here

While some critics claim that this is exploitative behavior, there is clear proof that social media inspires others to help the less fortunate. Using a crowdsourcing platform, Rahat has more than doubled his fundraising goal of raising $20,000 to help improve Eric’s lifestyle and get him back on his feet.

Vitaly Zdorovetskiy, another person with a popular YouTube channel, helped a homeless man by buying him new clothes, taking him to the barbershop, treating him to a nice steak dinner and putting him up in a hotel for two nights.

After the video went viral and Vitaly contacted local dentists, Martin fulfilled his dream of receiving a new set of teeth (free of charge).

Watch other examples of ordinary citizens trying to help out those in need by clicking here and here.

After watching these videos, are you more inclined to want to help those less fortunate? Do you think these type of videos are exploitative or do they help raise awareness and influence others to show more compassion? Leave a comment in the section below and share this article on Facebook, Twitter and Google+

Michael Sharnoff is founder and editor of Sharnoff’s Global Views. Follow him on Twitter @MichaelSharnoff. Read other articles by Michael.