The Ice Bucket Challenge: social changes that social media makes

 

 Social media is a kind of new online platform. Everyone shares their own opinion and various information as speaker and reader. It is different from traditional media such as newspapers that only the speaker of media transmits information. In social media, new social problems are brought up to the surface and the public tries to solve those problems. One of the examples of trying to solve social problems through social media is the Ice Bucket Challenge. 

 

 The Ice Bucket Challenge started from the Cold Water Challenge where people taking part in this challenge have to choose between jumping into the water or making a donation for the Institute of Cancer Research or The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. But criticisms have been raised about the risky aspect of jumping into this cold water, so people use a way of getting covered with ice water. That time a baseball player, Pete Frates, participated in this challenge to donate to the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association (ALS Association) and posted a video about it in his SNS. After that post, it spread widely and now it is known for social movements aimed at letting people know about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS) and activating donations. It is carried out in the way that one participant names three people who will follow that challenge. The three people named by the former participant choose between getting covered with ice water or donating 100 dollars to The ALS Association. It spread out fast, and it became one of trends, leading more people to know and be concerned about ALS. Until now, many people are participating in this challenge. In fact, by 2020, $220 million in donations had been raised globally, and in 2022, a new treatment for ALS was approved by the FDA. Like this, thanks to the Ice Bucket Challenge, society changed in a positive way. More people know and get interested in ALS and patients suffering from this illness, and this challenge leads to many good deeds. 

 

 Then how did a small challenge started by one person spread so fast and induce so many people to participate in it? This challenge proceeds in the way that people participate in it voluntarily in social media. In inducing people’s voluntary participation and maintaining this good challenge, social media played a big role in. The fact that this challenge is simple and easy to join in it and its main method is pointing at someone in video aroused people’s interest. Also many people use social media so more people can join in this challenge easily. Thus now celebrities such as politicians, enterprises and actors take part in it, so it gets even more widespread. These social media’s feature made this challenge have a great social impact. 

 

 Like this, we can change someone’s small, but good deed into many people’s good deeds through social media. And by gathering these actions, we can make greater social change. The Ice Bucket Challenge is a great example of this power of social media. But this is just the beginning, and the power of social media will only get stronger in the future, helping to build a better society.

 

 

By Staff Reporter Kim Soeun (2-3)