Ice-Bucket Challenge
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Lou Gehrig's disease, Charcot disease
It was the social media sensation of 2014 with millions of people queuing up to be filmed take part. One in six Britons reportedly took part in the challenge and more than 17 million people uploaded videos to Facebook, urging friends to do the same, it reached approximately 440 million people worldwide!!
Miraculously the challenge raised £87 million in just over eight weeks!!
The money raised helped to fund groundbreaking genetic research for the ALS Association, which researches the progressive neurodegenerative disease also known as motor neurone disease (MND), including the largest ever study of inherited ALS.
Donating to charity, I thought, is supposed to be a deferential, humble act, and not something to be muddied with social media frivolity for the sake of a few likes. But seeing the impact of the money raised by the challenge has made me realise: so what if ego overtook altruism? Social media can bring out the worst in us, but when makes this much difference, naysayers like myself must now swallow their pride.
“It shows everyone who contributed to the ice bucket challenge that their donation had an impact on the research.”
Brian Frederick, ALS Association.
These campaigns have changed the way we engage with good causes. In the social media age, we no longer give money to charity quietly and modestly. And if a fundraising trend can appeal to the reasons we’re online in the first place – to feel part of something, to connect and, yes, to massage our ego once in a while – then of course it should exploit this.
No doubt we will have more online fundraising campaigns in the future that engage us with challenges we can’t resist taking part in. But while they may be vanity projects, I will no longer roll my eyes and disparage those taking part.
A bit of extra narcissism on your newsfeed can simply be a means to an end. There’s nothing wrong with charitable giving involving a laugh if it helps to raise money. After all, it’s the ALS Association who’s laughing now.
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