For several years now, Elisabeth Cook has purchased Christmas gifts for children in need.
Since November, Ms. Cook, a couponing influencer with more than 800,000 followers on TikTok, has posted updates about holiday shopping expeditions and has shared videos that show her loading carts to the brim with clothes and games. Ms. Cook thought she was doing a good thing and hoped that her posts might motivate others to get involved.
Then came the backlash. On Facebook, some accused her of doing it all for attention.
“I’m just trying to encourage people to help,” Ms. Cook, who is 42 and lives in Lansing, Mich., said in a phone interview. “I don’t feel like I’m bragging.”
In the background, the sound of a store’s loudspeaker could be heard. Ms. Cook was at a Walmart doing a little more last-minute shopping, she said.
She is not the only one posting about her hauls for charity — or the only one being scrutinized for it. Buying items for the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program, which for more than four decades has collected gifts for children across the country, has in recent years become an annual social media trend and a source of somewhat unexpected heated debate online.
Influencers and their followers log on to spar over thorny questions about gift-giving and charity: What gifts are appropriate? Is posting about them gauche, an effort to gain a little more cachet (and more followers)?
And, when it comes to helping those in need, can there ever be such a thing as excess?
Rebecca Ma, the wealthy influencer better known online as Becca Bloom, documented her Angel Tree shopping this year in videos showing her purchasing items like a laptop, a Nintendo Switch and thick stacks of gift cards.
Serena Neel, a 28-year-old content creator in Las Vegas, said she had bought gifts for 35 children this year and estimated she had spent at least $400 to $500 on each child.
One of her TikTok videos shows Ms. Neel, who has seven million followers on the platform, adopting a calico kitten for a boy. (His parents gave her their blessing, she said. )
Dale Bannon, a spokesman for Salvation Army, wrote in an emailed statement that posts like Ms. Neel’s had generated “unprecedented levels” of interest in the Angel Tree program.
“Some locations saw double the demand to adopt an Angel, which is crucial, as many Salvation Army centers have also seen a 25 percent or more increase in requests for assistance,” Mr. Bannon wrote.
Some of the online scrutiny has fallen on those who receive gifts through the program, like Charay Johnson, a 26-year-old single mother in Washington, D.C., who recently shared a video reacting to the presents her 2-year-old son received.
“I wanted them to know that I was grateful,” said Ms. Johnson, who lost her job earlier this year. The reactions to her video, which has been viewed more than two million times, were surprisingly harsh, she said. Some viewers accused Ms. Johnson of not needing charity, basing their criticism on her appearance and on the Christmas decorations in her home that were visible in the video.
Others defended her, and some people even sent additional gifts to both Ms. Johnson and her son, she said. She was touched by the generosity of strangers.
“My goal next year is to be able to at least adopt two angels off a tree because of everything that’s happened to us this year,” Ms. Johnson said.
Matthew Bounds, an author who lives in Gulfport, Miss., was upset after he saw a TikTok video appearing to criticize a 15-year-old Angel Tree child for putting big-ticket items, including an iPad and AirPods, on a wish list.
Mr. Bounds, 43, who is also an influencer and has 2.3 million followers, tracked down the teenager’s local Walmart and purchased every item on his list.
“I wanted to make sure that particular gift tag got taken care of and wasn’t just a punchline on the internet,” Mr. Bounds said.
Lisa Awaitey, a 31-year-old consultant in Boston, said that she had been inspired after seeing Ms. Neel, the influencer who adopted the kitten, buying Angel Tree gifts.
Ms. Awaitey, who offered more of her thoughts on the program in a recent TikTok video, also acknowledged that influencers making Angel Tree videos stand to gain followers and make money as a result of that attention. (Having more followers on TikTok can mean opportunities for paid brand deals, and some users are also paid out for their video views through a TikTok rewards programs.)
“I think that is the best way an influencer can act in this time of year,” Ms. Awaitey said jokingly. “I’m sure this led to a lot more engagement for them and that pays their bills.”
But at the end of the day, she is fine with the idea that influencers may benefit from helping others.
“If it ends up making someone’s life better then I don’t see there being a problem with that,” she said.
Madison Malone Kircher is a Times reporter covering internet culture.
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