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Now that many of us have lived with a smartphone in our pocket for years, we tend to have a reflex to film or photograph anything that strikes our fancy. For better or worse, this also means documenting disasters, fails, and other events that would feel a lot worse if they happened to us. 

The “Don't help, just keep filming” online group exists to document all those hilarious moments when someone needed assistance, but onlookers decided to, instead, immortalize the moment. So get comfortable, as you scroll through, upvote the best or worst ones, and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below. We also got in touch with the page’s moderators to learn more. 

#2

Don't Bother Turning It Off

Don't Bother Turning It Off

icemanvr6 Report

#3

He Looks Like He Deserved It Though

He Looks Like He Deserved It Though

bobdoodlesmerf Report

Bored Panda got in touch with the page’s moderators and they were kind enough to share some more details. “Allow me to give a little more context on this subreddit. This subreddit's previous admins and moderators participated in the Reddit Blackout by no longer moderating the content and not adhering to the Code of Conduct. Because of this, the entire team was removed. This happened in a number of subreddits, and so Reddit reached out for any experienced moderators to help with a number of different communities.”

“Personally, I have professional experience running social media and communities in the tech space as well as the video game industry. Because of this - I volunteered. This was maybe 4-6 months back. Myself and the other mod were selected by Reddit directly after we threw a comment on their (Reddit Admin) topic asking for help. I knew of r/donthelpjustfilm before but in passing.”

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#4

Woof🤿irl

Woof🤿irl

reddit.com Report

#5

Back When My Little Brother Got Stuck In The Toilet. Still Hanging On The Wall

Back When My Little Brother Got Stuck In The Toilet. Still Hanging On The Wall

DrakusD Report

#6

Do Something Hooman?

Do Something Hooman?

ShortPromotion Report

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Rayne OfSalt
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I say this as a cat lover, and someone who was a cat rescue specialist with an animal welfare organisation for almost 2 decades - Keep. Your. Damn. Cats. Inside.

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“Upon joining - we learned the sub was made private for about 3 months and also had the mod queue completely flooded with bogus reports on topics - content posted that didn't adhere to the subreddit's own posted rules, etc. Not to mention upon re-opening the sub, no one really knew that it was back open. I assume this is because folks' interest in this sub is cursory and not a "main event" kinda community.” 

#8

Smiling On The Outside, Struggling On The Inside

Smiling On The Outside, Struggling On The Inside

[deleted] Report

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#9

So My Mom Was So Tired She Fell Asleep On The Dog Bed While Petting The Dog. Our Dog Jak Decided That Mom's Face Was Perfect For His Butt To Lay On. His Farts Tend To Be The Worst While He Naps. My Poor Mother 😴🐶💨

So My Mom Was So Tired She Fell Asleep On The Dog Bed While Petting The Dog. Our Dog Jak Decided That Mom's Face Was Perfect For His Butt To Lay On. His Farts Tend To Be The Worst While He Naps. My Poor Mother 😴🐶💨

WhootieCutie Report

“As a Community Manager, you tend to simply focus on content curation and help folks to post. In my short experience here - that's been a tough one. We've got a fairly large community, but even with regular posting on my end - there's a little bump in engagement and other folks posting.”

#10

Frog Confuses Christmas Light With Firefly And Illuminates Himself From Inside

Frog Confuses Christmas Light With Firefly And Illuminates Himself From Inside

AutoCrosspostBot Report

#12

In The 70’s My Parents Thought It Was A Better Idea To Take A Photo Than Help Me

In The 70’s My Parents Thought It Was A Better Idea To Take A Photo Than Help Me

reddit.com Report

We were also curious to hear why they thought the content was popular in the first place. “I don't think it's that deep. You can look at the success of subs like r/childrenfallingover to see that people like to see "fails." The other moderator also shared his input. “Of course, people are drawn to disasters, accidents, and similar types of events. Historically people would always gather around or watch these types of events, even before phones.

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#14

Please Help Grandma. She's Trying Her Best

Please Help Grandma. She's Trying Her Best

Scubamesteve Report

#15

Sheep Charging Fisherman, Pushed Into The Water

Sheep Charging Fisherman, Pushed Into The Water

donthelpjustfilm Report

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Hilary Mol
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To be fair, there's really no way to intervene in this situation. The sheep's gonna sheep, and if you try to step in, you're going to be in that pond, too.

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"The term "bystander effect" first came around back in the 1960s because of the murder of Kitty Genovese. Now people simply have the option to film it to show their friends and social media, but the concept isn't exactly new. Although I would say our litigious society where people get sued or ridiculed for everything certainly doesn't help influence people to assist others." they shared with us.

#16

Shortly After My First Christmas, When I’d Figured Out How To Scoot Backward (But Not Forward)…

Shortly After My First Christmas, When I’d Figured Out How To Scoot Backward (But Not Forward)…

NorCalNavyMike Report

#17

Cat Gets Stuck, Hooman Gets Camera

Cat Gets Stuck, Hooman Gets Camera

chunktv Report

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Candace
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Poor baby!! That cat is in pain! Imagine if your fingernails from both of your hands were stuck in something at the same time and there was pressure being put on them too!!!

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#18

He Could Have Picked Anywhere Else To Sit

He Could Have Picked Anywhere Else To Sit

sjoerdja Report

In sociology, many of the images shown here might fall under the category of “someone else's problem,” the idea that, somehow the issue will just resolve itself. This isn’t just some modern malaise, it has been observed for quite some time. Oftentimes, when there are other people around, the people convince themselves that someone else will intervene

#19

This Is Fine. I'm Fine

This Is Fine. I'm Fine

Autism_Tylr_Schaffer Report

#20

Puppy Fighting For His Bed Back

Puppy Fighting For His Bed Back

blaxeit433 Report

#21

Poor Guy

Poor Guy

u/RaymondLife Report

Of course, this doesn’t seem to stop people from whipping out their devices and immortalizing the situation that they could help prevent. Some folks point towards this sort of content as evidence that people are less helpful, but this might be a classic case of confirmation bias. After all, “Diffusion of responsibility” was no doubt happening before the cell phone, just with less evidence. 

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#23

Pick Him Up

Pick Him Up

u/kevinowdziej Report

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BoredPossum
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How inconsiderate, if he freaks out, he might injure the beautiful bearded dragon.

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#25

When I Was A Kid A Big Plastic Easel Fell On Me And Mom Decided To Document

When I Was A Kid A Big Plastic Easel Fell On Me And Mom Decided To Document

Tex-Luthor Report

#27

Poor Cat Just Wanted To Have A Nap

Poor Cat Just Wanted To Have A Nap

All__Caps_ Report

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#28

It's All Fun And Games Until Kitty Heads Begin To Roll

It's All Fun And Games Until Kitty Heads Begin To Roll

AutoCrosspostBot Report

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#30

Every Man For Themselves

Every Man For Themselves

reyreystrudel Report

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The pigeon
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is that a whale shark in the first picture? They're not harmful to humans at all, lol. They're maybe scary but not life-threatening, and it looks like someone was trying to help him in the second picture.

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#31

My Neighbor Left His Thunderbird Outside With The Top Down. It's Pouring

My Neighbor Left His Thunderbird Outside With The Top Down. It's Pouring

roywhobbes Report

#32

Cat "Trapped" Inside The Litterbox

Cat "Trapped" Inside The Litterbox

AnimalsBeingDerps Report

#33

When Your Home Cat Thinks It’s A Top Predator With Ninja Skills

When Your Home Cat Thinks It’s A Top Predator With Ninja Skills

AutoCrosspostBot Report

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Debbie
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh I'd be laughing too hard to be able to take a picture.

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#34

How Are You Doing Today, Sir?

How Are You Doing Today, Sir?

bc22086 Report

#36

*casually Sits There And Films*

*casually Sits There And Films*

AdamSimpson0419 Report

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Deborah B
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Stop, drop and roll, people. When you set your a*s on fire, Stop - do not run, Drop - to the ground, and Roll - use your body to smother the flames against the ground.

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#37

Possibly The Best Feet You'll See All Day

Possibly The Best Feet You'll See All Day

AnimalsBeingDerps Report

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#38

Cat Messing With The Drying Rack

Cat Messing With The Drying Rack

ExperimentalFailures Report

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Lyop
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cats almost always put themselves in these situations! Sorry but Imma sit back and enjoy...so far as I can see that there will be no harm done to the little idiot!

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#39

British Kids Can Be Little Jerks

British Kids Can Be Little Jerks

u/SirBallBag Report

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Debbie
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure if I would have intervened. This isn't just naughty stuff.

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#40

My Man Flexed Too Hard

My Man Flexed Too Hard

u/yeeticusyarticus Report

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BoredPossum
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This looks like a video of an accident happening while someone films, not someone starting to film instead of helping.

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#41

Where Do We Go From Here?

Where Do We Go From Here?

reference404 Report

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Drinking my Covfefe
Community Member
10 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To be fair they are taking the pic to make people aware of the homeless being in such need of help😞

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#42

Do You...wanna Go For A Walk?

Do You...wanna Go For A Walk?

RininLibrary Report