ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: The real essence

The challenge:

 The challenge was that people had to get drenched in a bucket full of ice or donate to the ALS Association in the United States. The ones who undertake the challenge should also nominate  other people, to undertake the challenge. So nominated people were given a day's time to take the challenge and post their video on social media, or donate a handsome amount of money to the ALS Association of United States.
Set out with an objective to raise funds for their research and spread awareness on ALS( also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) , their strategy did get the entire world talk about them. They became a world wide sensation and raised millions of dollars. The impact of the challenge is felt in every corner  with millions attempting to undertake the challenge or donate money or both.

How successful is it?

 It is trending globally.

As per the graph, the interest and curiousity in ALS over time has increased exponentially during the period of the ALS Challenge, from Jun-Aug 2014. The data above do show that ALS is a successful social media stunt. 

They have raised millions of dollars to fund their research, and help wipe out ALS permanently! Their success is eminent and felt everywhere. 

Drawbacks

They might enjoy being an internet sensation, but they definitely do have some drawbacks. Let's ponder over this: Did they really fullfill all of their objectives? 

The focal point clearly is on #icebucketchallenge, not the ALS disease itself.On social media, what went viral was the challenge and celebs pouring ice on their heads. In the aspect of spreading awareness on ALS, their success is put to question. Many people who undertook the challenge still do not know what ALS is or what kind of research is required to treat the disease! What people have is just a superficial knowledge of the disease. Very few know what they are contributing to and why. Nevertheless, they managed to have a very wide outreach, which is basically a dream for many others who are trying so hard! 

Varied reactions:

There were varied reactions to this challenge. While many stars gave in to this trend and made handsome donations, there are others who didn't support this challenge for several reasons.  Pamela Anderson refused to take the challenge. She stated that ALS Testing techniques were against animal rights. Instead, she challenged them openly on social media to completely ban animal testing as a part of their research in curing ALS. 

Zachary Quinto refused to take the ALS Challenge on account of his concern for water shortages in many developing countries. Obviously, to someone like that, throwing a bucket of ice water on one's head has no direct contribution to the cause and is useless, or rather, a waste of time and an essential resource- water!

Carey Hart simply felt the ice bucket challenge was indeed a successful trend and a creative campaign, but it had become just a joke to be passed on. ( source: Huffington Post)

There were many stars who took the challenge or donated money or did both. 

So what is ALS? 

As per the definition given by ALS Association, it is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Some of the early symptoms are muscle weakening or cramps. Patients often complain that they cannot eat or chew properly, cannot walk or do basic every day activities properly. Its final stage is marked by paralysis and death. There is sadly, no test to diagonize ALS. And there is no cure for ALS as well. ALS has caused a lot of physical and mental pain in many lives. It's cause is also obscure due to which, curing it requires immense amount of research. 

The ALS Association is raising funds for research in this area to learn more about its cause and how it can be treated. They also provide support for people with ALS. 

The real essence

Instead of taking up the challenge and spreading the challenge, let us spread awareness on why we should contribute to the disease and the seriousness of the disease. Let's include the #StrikeOutALS with #icebucketchallenge( since strikeoutals is the main goal) and let us keep this energy going for a long long time. Because the challenge may fade away with time on social media, but the disease is not going to if serious action is not taken. Let us encourage more students to take up research in this area and provide our support to those who have lost their loved ones because of this disease. Also, let us motivate more people to donate for a good cause