Ice Ice Baby!!
Stop Collaborate and listen… ice is
back with a brand new invention. Ok now that I’ve caught your attention you should
know that this post is not only fun but interesting as well and will probably
leave you with some new knowledge. I’m sure most of you have been seeing videos
of people throwing a bucket of ice water over themselves… and wondering why the
heck would one be so crazy?? Well stop wondering because I am here to tell you
all about it.
The whole point behind throwing a bucket of iced water over yourself and
then uploading the video to the public, is to raise awareness about the ALS disease. ASL
stands for amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis. It is a disease that basically attacks a person’s muscles in their
body causing one to hardly be able to move and could even end up
paralyzed. Many people don’t know about the disease especially in
South Africa. Therefore the ice
bucket challenge was created to make people aware and educate them
about ALS and raise funds to do more research on the disease and how we can
help fight it.
You will be surprised as to how many people are suffering from ALS for example a young man named Pete Frates. Pete who was an active athlete was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 27. Within two years the disease had attacked Petes muscles so badly that he is now paralyzed and unable to talk. Another famous South African that is fighting the same battle is the famous Springbok legend Joost van der Westhuizen.
 |
| Springbok legend Joost van der Westhuizen |
 |
| 27 year old Pete Frates |
Social media has definitely made
the challenge more interesting and popular. One of the rules to this challenge
is uploading a video of yourself taking the challenge. Therefore everyone gets
to view different peoples videos and see what its all about. Uploading a video
of it has certainly put the fun into doing the challenge as many people use
social media as a way of communication with the world. Been able to do the
challenge over social
media also allows the hype and awareness around the disease to go
viral, making it easier to also educate people about the disease and the
concept behind the exciting challenge.
Helping
contribute to creating awareness and raising money is only a splish splash away!
1: Take a video of yourself dumping a bucket of iced water over your
head.
2: Simply post that very same video on any sort of social network, for
example Instagram or Facebook.
3: Nominate other friends to take on the challenge within 24 hours.
If you’re too afraid to take on the challenge you could still help
without freezing your butt off. Visit this website to see how (hyperlink)
All the money that is raised from the challenge will go towards the cost
of a patient that is living with the disease. Money will also help with
purchasing and providing them with the necessary equipment needed. For example
wheel chairs and respiratory equipment.
I love the way social media played a part in the whole campaign, it not only shows that you don't need a big budget for your campaign to go viral, but also what it takes for the campaign to be successful. My only problem with the campaign apart from the wastage of water is the fact that did people actually donate and make a difference in the cause or were they just having fun at the end.
ReplyDeletePart of the campaign was to create awareness around the ALS disease not only donate. So although people might have not donated I do believe that they achieved their goal in creating awareness about ALS.
ReplyDeleteOkay but what good is the camping if it is just to create awareness and not make money of the whole thing because sure I know about ALS now what.
DeleteSome people cant afford to help financially wise, what matters is that they are trying to make a difference in whatever way they want.
ReplyDeleteTrue so in that instance then aware is the only way they could hel but my question is what good is awareness if we not generating money as an organisation especially one where we need money to help the people we creaying awareness for.
DeleteI do believe that social media was the main reason for the popularity of the campaign and personally i do believe it was on of the best marketed campaigns because it got global recognition which shows the success and role social media played in the entire campaign
ReplyDeleteYes if it wasn't for social media i don't think it would have brought much awareness around the disease. This clearly shows us the power social media has.
DeleteI agree that social media helped create awareness on this disease. And when i saw people doing the ice bucket challenge, i wont lie, I also wanted to do it. Its just sad that South Africans didn't really make a big deal about it seeing that Springbok legend Joost van der Westhuizen suffers from this disease
ReplyDeleteTrue.. not everyone found the campaign useful. You're entitled to your opinion but why didn't you do the challenge if you feel it was sad that South Africans didn't make a big deal about it?
DeleteI totally agree with you that social media played one of the biggest roles in making this campaign a huge success . Everybody I knew wanted to do it . I just wish it was as huge campaign as it was in the states.
ReplyDeletei completely agree with you it would have been great. But not everybody is the same maybe for the next challenge SA could go big
Delete