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The power of viral videos

Ice bucket challenge keeps on rolling
PHOTOs from Youtube On Aug. 21, the manager of Nesters Market, Sean Daly, Squamish mayor Rob Kirkham and Squamish councillor Bryan Raiser accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge from Darren McPeake and Carl Brown from MountainFM.

I’m a bit of a cynic.

That’s just part of the territory when you’re a journalist.

So, in July when I started seeing videos all over the Internet of people dumping cold water over their heads for the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association and then challenging others to do the same, I’ll admit I initially rolled my eyes and snorted with derision. 

I found it a tad narcissistic. “Look at me! I’m being altruistic and silly at the same time! Aren’t I awesome?” And I also had my doubts about the fundraising aspect.

Some versions of the so-called Ice Bucket Challenge indeed have people donating $100 to ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) after getting wet, but I’ve also seen versions of the challenge where if someone goes under the ice bucket they do not have to donate. Or they make a lesser donation if the challenge is accepted, and the full $100 only if they refuse the challenge.

Also, if everyone is suddenly throwing their limited charity budget at ALS, what about cancer research, Alzheimer’s and the multitude of other illnesses that need cash and support to find cures and treatments? Will that research suffer now because nobody is making pithy little viral videos for those diseases? 

But, there is no denying the impact all this has had for ALS.

There have been in excess of 2.4 million ice bucket-related videos posted on Facebook, and 28 million people have uploaded, commented on or liked ice bucket-related posts, according to BBC news. I was wrong to doubt the fundraising aspect too, because from July 29 to August 28 this year ALS received $98.2 million – compared with $2.7 million donated during the same period last year. 

And let’s not forget the awareness. I mean, who was talking about ALS a few months ago? Do you think Justin Timberlake, Kate Moss, David Beckham or Conan O’Brien were talking about or concerned with ALS back then? But those celebs and many more have taken to YouTube as well to pour ice water over their heads… whether for altruism and charity, or simply to raise their own profiles can be debated, of course. Also, those celebrities can afford to do more than dump perfectly good, clean and usable drinking water on their heads… and although zillionaires like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates have performed the challenge, I seem to have only seen actor Charlie Sheen give more than the required $100 (he donated $10,000).

So, while I can certainly roll my eyes at some celebrity involvement, and the narcissistic aspect of the whole ice bucket thing, there is absolutely no denying the merits of the cause, or how it has become the quickest spreading charity phenomenon on social media… ushering in a new, modern age of online charity drives. But at the same time, I can also hope that nobody I know challenges me to the damned thing, not because I’m a cynic or don’t like to give to worthy causes… but mostly because I just don’t like cold showers. 

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