Quick, tell me exactly what ALS is!
Stumped? You're not alone. Though people around the world can tell you which of their friends have dumped ice buckets on their head recently, you'd be hard-pressed to find a comparable number who know exactly why. Something about ALS … but what is ALS? One of the complaints that's been lodged against the Ice Bucket Challenge – a widespread effort to raise awareness about ALS – is that the awareness-raising part has gotten sidelined next to the sheer spectacle of watching people be doused in water. Internet News has been ablaze with video after video of prominent figures getting totally soaked, but there have been far fewer pieces of news disseminated about ALS itself. Is that a bad thing? It's not a simple yes or no.
The case for the ice bucket
Perhaps the strongest case for the challenge comes from the ALS Association, which came up with the concept in the first place. After all, considering that the ALS Association is solely devoted to studying and promoting awareness about Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – a progressive condition that impacts spinal and brain nerve cells and is ultimately fatal – the group would never consider doing something that runs counter to its mission. And in most ways, the challenge is doing exactly what the ALS Association wants it to do: It's bringing in money that will be put toward advancing the cause.
The challenge is an outgrowth of the group's normal annual fundraiser, which last year, between late July and August 19, raised $1.9 million. During that same period this year, the figure reached $22.9 million, and it's only growing stronger with each passing, ice-soaked day. In terms of hard numbers, nobody can dispute the efficacy of the Ice Bucket Challenge in motivating people to donate. A large part of this surge in donations, after all, is accounted for by a condition of the challenge itself: If you choose not to dump water on your head when nominated by a friend, then you're asked instead to put $100 toward ALS research.
Another thing working in the challenge's favor is the pedigree of participants. Among those who've taken ice water to the head in the name of charity are Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Justin Timberlake – people who aren't only famous, but who are also notable for generally making good, reasoned choices.
The case against
But the challenge hasn't been as simple as everyone having a good time and calling it a day. Instead, it's spawned some detractors, who argue, among other things, that the effort diverts attention from the issue of ALS and encourages the kind of "slactivism" that has emerged with other viral movements.
As an E! Online article points out, the infectious fun of dumping water on oneself and imaging people you'd like to challenge has in many ways superseded the ALS awareness that grounds the campaign. Across the cybersphere, people are posting videos of 20 or 30 seconds in length, but what's happened is that the sheer number of videos out there have somewhat diluted the message of the movement. Instead of being about who can donate the most money, some point out that the challenge has turned into who can make the most outrageous show of being hit with ice water – which, while fun, veers away from the point of the event.
There's also a concern that, while the challenge has raised money, it's also helped indirectly to propagate "slactivism." Indeed, no matter how you try to spin it, there is nothing remotely charitable about merely dumping ice water on your head.
