Rant about Ice Bucket Challenge

[Mama Mia]

Has anyone else seen the ALS Awareness Ice Bucket Challenge thing making the rounds on Facebook?

The idea is that a person, often a celebrity, is challenged to either have a bucket of ice water dumped over their head OR they have to donate to charity. They video the water getting dumped on them and name someone to pass the challenge on to.

How the hell does this raise money for ALS?!? The only awareness it raises is the word ALS is used. That's it. And of course all the videos are of people taking the challenge, which means they don't have to donate. This is the stupidest fundraiser ever :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead:

End rant

[SpeakNow]

A lot of people are donating and dumping ice on themselves. Also, corporations have started donating on behalf of employees who take the challenge. I agree that on its surface the challenge seems counterintuitive, but it actually seems to be raising money.

http://time.com/3101166/als-ice-bucket- ... ndraising/

[Katie_Bug]

How the hell does this raise money for ALS?!? The only awareness it raises is the word ALS is used. That's it. And of course all the videos are of people taking the challenge, which means they don't have to donate. This is the stupidest fundraiser ever :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead:

End rant

But by using the term ALS, it is bringing awareness to the disease. Many people, especially young people, are not familiar with this awful condition. This fundraiser seems to be aimed at that demographic, so by promoting this fundraiser, people are bringing awareness (and therefore money) to the disease by just getting the name out there.

[Mama Mia]

But by using the term ALS, it is bringing awareness to the disease. Many people, especially young people, are not familiar with this awful condition. This fundraiser seems to be aimed at that demographic, so by promoting this fundraiser, people are bringing awareness (and therefore money) to the disease by just getting the name out there.

I would agree if they said something about ALS, but the ones I've seen there is no link for more info, no description of what ALS even IS, nothing. So it seems really superficial, to me. And, well, frankly, kind of like a lot of criticism leveled at the breast cancer " awareness" campaigns ( but much worse).

That's great if companies and/or individuals are also donating, but on the celebrity ones I'm seeing they don't even mention it as something they are doing in addition to getting water dumped on them.

[Katie_Bug]

I would agree if they said something about ALS, but the ones I've seen there is no link for more info, no description of what ALS even IS, nothing. So it seems really superficial, to me. And, well, frankly, kind of like a lot of criticism leveled at the breast cancer " awareness" campaigns ( but much worse).

That's great if companies and/or individuals are also donating, but on the celebrity ones I'm seeing they don't even mention it as something they are doing in addition to getting water dumped on them.

I agree they could have chosen a better fundraiser (or thought it through more), but I think they are hoping that people will become curious and google ALS and hopefully donate. Or perhaps this is stage one of an awareness campaign. Diseases like ALS need all the publicity they can get because funding is often a matter of awareness. As you said, it would work a lot better if these videos/posts had a link to the ALS website or some sort of message attached. However, people will remember these ice bucket challenges for a while (well, longer than 5 seconds) and hopefully associate these videos with ALS. Then, when real advertising for ALS awareness comes out people will remember the ice bucket stunts and maybe be more open to donating. Yes, I realize I am stretching here! :)

[Evilbad]

They've raised almost $5 million this year vs the barely $1 million raised last year. I think it's serving it's purpose.

[Mama Mia]

They've raised almost $5 million this year vs the barely $1 million raised last year. I think it's serving it's purpose.

Well, I stand corrected. It's apparently brilliant. That's not sarcastic, that's honest.

[DGayle]

The fundraiser is an afterthought. The ice-bucket challenge was already getting big, and at some point, it became "do it or pay up" instead of "do it or you're a wuss."

[Marianne]

http://www.vice.com/read/dumping-a-buck ... ropist-813

Interesting article. Not breaking the link because it's vice.

[Guest]

I've started seeing people nominating a bunch of people and offering to donate a certain amount for each one who does it. I think it's kind of annoying because it's all over the place, but it's also pretty brilliant because it's actually working.

[shedemei]

This article pretty much sums up how I feel about it.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense ... earch.html

[moreorlessnu]

The ALS challenge has been huge here in New England. When you challenge someone, they have 24 hours to either a) perform the ice bucket dumping (over their head) and donate $10, or b) donate $100.

[louisa05]

The videos I have seen from people I actually know did not all mention ALS. One said "I have to do this or donate". Didn't mention what she had to donate to and clearly interpreted it as not requiring her to give a dime.

Even those that do mention ALS don't seem to know what it is. I also wonder how many are able to find their way to an appropriate way/place to donate since no links are provided.

It does strike me as a bit narcissistic. We can't just give money; we have to have a video on social media so we get congratulated for doing it. Or for not doing it as the case may be.

[DGayle]

A friend of mine was challenged to do this today, and we're chatting right now actually. She feels really bad because she really doesn't want to dump ice water on herself, doesn't have $100 to spare, and said she'll be humiliated if she doesn't do one or the other.

I think people need to stop "challenging" each other. It's basically spending someone else's money, and the people challenged might not have it, might be hiding how tight money is, and have no graceful way to save face without looking heartless to telling the challenger to shut up.

[Coconut Flan]

That's true. Sometimes in life there is a time to ignore things.

This kind of thing may be more for celebrities than someone like me who would certainly just ignore it if someone sent me a FB or twitter challenge of this nature. Nope, never saw it.

[BrownieMomma]

Been seeing stuff off and on about this "ice bucket challenge" for a week or more. Never a clue what it's about until I read this thread and I'm too tired to google for ALS.

I'm so skeptical of things I wanna see more proof that it is actually raising money.

[lilwriter85]

I was watching SportsCenter yesterday and they did a story about a man suffering from ALS who helped start the ice bucket challenge. It is a touching story. I do think aspects of the challenge system are kind of dumb and like DCGayle said some people may not have $100 to spare to avoid dumping ice water on themselves.

http://espn.go.com/boston/story/_/id/11 ... loud-clear

[CallmeChaCha]

I was watching SportsCenter yesterday and they did a story about a man suffering from ALS who helped start the ice bucket challenge. It is a touching story. I do think aspects of the challenge system are kind of dumb and like DCGayle said some people may not have $100 to spare to avoid dumping ice water on themselves.

http://espn.go.com/boston/story/_/id/11 ... loud-clear

I watched the last part of this. I think it helped me see this ice bucket challenge in a different light. Kind of like putting a face to a name.

I do think the challenge is raising awareness and money. Although, living in California, I can't say I think wasting water is such a good idea.

[HarryPotterFan]

I think instead of setting an amount of "Donate $100" they should have said "Donate whatever you can." It's wonderful that so much money has been raised, but I wonder if more could have been raised if they encouraged people to donate what they can. For so many people $100 is a lot. Many people tagged would probably have donated $1, $5, $20, $50, anything really. And that adds up. Sure, some people who donated already would have donated less, but people who could afford it would possibly donate even more. What if people would have donated $500 if there wasn't a random number we were told to donate? Plus, if you encourage people do donate whatever they can - even if it's small, I think that would encourage people to donate to other important causes in the future. (I'm pretty sure there is a whole bunch of behavioral psychology behind that thought, and I think something like that was discussed in one of my college psych classes).

It does seem like most people mention ALS without really understanding what it is. True awareness isn't just that it exists, but also knowing about the disease. I feel like that got lost somewhere. Kind of like a game of telephone.

I have a friend who was tagged in the challenge. She has no desire to dump ice on her head, but is asking for textbooks for her birthday.

Another friend posted this on Facebook:

[HarryPotterFan]

The ALS challenge has been huge here in New England. When you challenge someone, they have 24 hours to either a) perform the ice bucket dumping (over their head) and donate $10, or b) donate $100.

A big problem is so many people have twisted it into "Dump ice on your head OR pay $100." So then people dump ice on their head and don't donate, and feel like they did something.

[Mecca]

The challenges that have come my way have not been informative and were more about seeking attention for the participant. The two I saw just today by friends did not even mention it was for ALS or listed the rules of the challenge. They did challenge a lot of people, though.

I understand ALS foundation has received a lot of money, and that is a positive thing, but my fear is that this type of challenge is not about true altruism. It is about narcissism. The truth is most will do the challenge and not give ALS a second thought. The next viral thing will come our way and ALS will be forgotten. This just appears to be another form of slacktivism.

[shedemei]

A big problem is so many people have twisted it into "Dump ice on your head OR pay $100." So then people dump ice on their head and don't donate, and feel like they did something.

That is actually how it started, not what it's been "perverted" into.

[twinmama]

I'm glad they are making money for ALS research, but good lord am I sick of seeing these stupid videos. And yes, like 99% of things on social media, the people doing the challenge seem to be doing it to be seen doing it. The only friend I respect for doing it did the challenge, donated to the ALS foundation or whatever, AND donated to a charity that helps provide clean water to places without.

But slacktivism and narcissism for SURE!

[FiddleDD]

Luckily I haven't been forced to watch many videos on facebook, but I really only check a couple people profiles sporadically.

I did enjoy very much seeing Nathon Fillion and Tom Hiddleston take the challenge. :clap:

(My current thoughts: Great idea for celebrities to do, maybe there will be more money raised for ALS, but I think 90% of it is just people being trendy.)

[Maggie Mae]

I first saw the Ice Challenge about a month or so ago. I didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it was another dumb fb "game" that would soon die out. But instead it did not and only got bigger. I don't think it's actively harmful, and people are going to do/post dumb pointless stuff on facebook. I think the celebs doing it kind of sucks though. I don't care if "Chris Pratt wins the internet in Ice Bucket Challenge" or "OPRAH DOES ICE BUCKET CHALLANGE AND ITS AWESOME AS EXPECTED" I dunno, I just don't get the whole celebrity thing. And now everyone is trying emulate the famous people ones and ... blah. But I just scroll past and post my workouts and vacation photos, which I'm sure annoys someone else.