Post by Ashly Paraham on Oct 9, 2014 21:45:24 GMT -5
The ALS Association is the only national non-profit organization fighting Lou Gehrig’s disease. Lou Gehrig’s Disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons travel from the brain to the spinal cord and the spinal cord to the muscles in the body. With the degeneration of the motor neutrons, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movements is lost and eventually leads to death. Patients in the later stages of the disease can become totally paralyzed. The ALS Association works to being the leading way in global research, provide assistance for those with ALS, and coordinate care through certified clinical care centers. (alsa.org)
Everyone has heard of the Ice Bucket Challenge these days. I decided to research it because I was one of the few people who was late about hearing it. I took a sabbatical from Facebook for about four months and was absolutely clueless about this challenge. So when I started to hear about it, I didn’t know why people were doing it, what it was for, and what ALS was.
There are many reasons as to why the Ice Bucket Challenge had become such a viral hit. According to an article in Sociology in Focus, they say that this movement did not come from a group of dissatisfied people, but from a generation that was used to memes and gimmicks and are quick to use technology to reproduce pop culture concepts. It ended up being a win-win situation because for those who couldn’t donate (because of financial means, for example) helped drive this movement with retweets, likes, and the reposting of viral videos.
In another article from Tech Republic, they stated that the call to action included into the video was another reason for the virality of the video. With this peer pressure and time sensitivity, it challenges your friend to replicate the challenge, which most likely they will due to guilt and a ‘why not?’ attitude.
With ALS, there was no building of relationships or having a strong social media presence when it came to the success of their fundraising. As a matter of fact, so few people knew about the ALS Association. They also didn’t target the particular audience that was willing to give. This fundraising phenomenon was produced randomly from a similar challenge that golfers did to support pet charities in the past. A pro golfer’s cousin, whose husband has ALS, took this challenge, nominated some friends, and before long this became a huge viral hit that ended up raising $21.7 million dollars for the ALS Association.
www.alsa.org
www.wcvb.com/news/als-association-announces-217m-in-funding-from-ice-bucket-challenge/28373112
www.techrepublic.com/article/als-ice-bucket-challenge-why-it-worked-and-what-social-media-marketers-can-learn/
www.sociologyinfocus.com/2014/09/03/als-ice-bucket-challenge/
Everyone has heard of the Ice Bucket Challenge these days. I decided to research it because I was one of the few people who was late about hearing it. I took a sabbatical from Facebook for about four months and was absolutely clueless about this challenge. So when I started to hear about it, I didn’t know why people were doing it, what it was for, and what ALS was.
There are many reasons as to why the Ice Bucket Challenge had become such a viral hit. According to an article in Sociology in Focus, they say that this movement did not come from a group of dissatisfied people, but from a generation that was used to memes and gimmicks and are quick to use technology to reproduce pop culture concepts. It ended up being a win-win situation because for those who couldn’t donate (because of financial means, for example) helped drive this movement with retweets, likes, and the reposting of viral videos.
In another article from Tech Republic, they stated that the call to action included into the video was another reason for the virality of the video. With this peer pressure and time sensitivity, it challenges your friend to replicate the challenge, which most likely they will due to guilt and a ‘why not?’ attitude.
With ALS, there was no building of relationships or having a strong social media presence when it came to the success of their fundraising. As a matter of fact, so few people knew about the ALS Association. They also didn’t target the particular audience that was willing to give. This fundraising phenomenon was produced randomly from a similar challenge that golfers did to support pet charities in the past. A pro golfer’s cousin, whose husband has ALS, took this challenge, nominated some friends, and before long this became a huge viral hit that ended up raising $21.7 million dollars for the ALS Association.
www.alsa.org
www.wcvb.com/news/als-association-announces-217m-in-funding-from-ice-bucket-challenge/28373112
www.techrepublic.com/article/als-ice-bucket-challenge-why-it-worked-and-what-social-media-marketers-can-learn/
www.sociologyinfocus.com/2014/09/03/als-ice-bucket-challenge/
