The Power of Viral Social Media: Ice Bucket Challenge
The Power of Viral Social Media: Ice Bucket Challenge
With big-name proponents like Bill Gates getting involved in raising funds for research and treatment, few social media marketing ideas have carried as much weight in recent years as the “Ice Bucket Challenge” campaign to support ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a condition commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease that affects voluntary muscle movement by acting on nerve cells in the brain and spine.
What is the Ice Bucket Challenge, and How Did It Become So Famous?
A movement in which friends nominate one another to either donate money towards the ALS Association or dump a bucket of ice water over their heads, the Ice Bucket Challenge has become so popular in recent weeks that it has garnered millions of dollars in donations for the organization. That money will help provide the means to research and treat Lou Gehrig’s disease on a number of fronts, and the ALS Association could not be more proud, having received over ten times the amount of donations at present than they did at this time in their previous year.
How Has the Challenge Become So Popular?
In a word, the challenge became popular through everyday communication: On a purely voluntary basis, many citizens with no connection to media outlets have driven a movement to help those suffering from ALS.
Indeed, as the Ice Bucket Challenge goes viral, special attention is now being placed on the power of online marketing to bring attention to worthy causes. In recent years, social media has done much to provide first-hand information on a variety of major social events. In the run-up to elections in Iran several years ago, for example, people in other countries could stay up-to-the-minute on news concerning key issues in Iranian civil rights, as Iranian citizens posted information about the election on sites like Twitter and Reddit.
Instead of waiting for op-eds in major newspapers, in other words, citizens of one country were now looking to citizens of another country to provide them with a common viewpoint on their experience. Such is the case with the Ice Bucket Challenge, which relies on the wider population to drive its campaign of awareness and fundraising. For individuals interested in the power of social media to change public opinion, the challenge is so successful that it should be seen as a major case-study in the effectiveness of online marketing.
A Club Where Everyone is Included: Understanding Social Media Marketing
So how is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge a particularly 21st Century idea? The answer lies in the ability of social media companies to sift through information via such means as hashtags. Through the use of codes such as #StrikeOutALS and #IceBucketChallenge on Twitter or Facebook, for example, any person can participate in spreading information about ALS awareness simply by noting their participation in the movement or by nominating friends to participate. As others search out the use of such terms, the movement moves forward on its own while drawing attention from major news outlets.
What Does the Challenge Tell Us About the Future of Social Media?
As examples of the power of people to help one another, movements such as the Ice Bucket Challenge appeal to basic psychological needs in human culture. A sense of belonging and a need to address the greater good are just two qualities that have caused the movement to be so popular with users on sites like Twitter and Facebook. By helping people affected by ALS, individuals on social media sites can participate in making the world a better place. As the movement goes more viral, individuals feel not only a connection to a positive campaign, but also that by sharing information they are introducing awareness to others.
In this way, the future of online marketing is inspiring in its potential for bringing awareness of good acts to a wider population. Even more striking is the grass-roots nature of such movements: As more people participate in awareness campaigns, more collective good can be done than ever in history. That quality alone has made social marketing one of the game-changers in 21st Century society and its truly democratic values.
