Mo Farah falls for the Ice Bucket gimmick

[Holac]

[Holac]

GOOD FOR Barack Obama. While vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard, he refused Ethel Kennedy’s ice bucket challenge. You know the saying: Just because every idiot in the world is jumping off of a cliff doesn’t mean you should too. No question, the group-think summertime craze is proving an effective way to raise funds. But that doesn’t make it right.

 

The challenge, as you’re probably aware, is that someone dares you either to douse yourself with a bucket full of water and ice or send $100 to the ALS Association. Dares, I’ve always thought, bring out the worst in people.

 

In this case, the worst has been brought out in droves. George W., Charlie Sheen, and Oprah are only a few of the luminaries who have all posted videos showing themselves getting soaked, as have tens of thousands of ordinary folks. Why? The humiliation of getting wet, apparently, is better than having to cut a big check (although to be fair, many get doused and donate anyway). Or perhaps it’s that, celebrity and non-celebrity alike, people crave attention, likes, and hits so much that they’ll do most anything.

 

For his part, Obama said he’d give instead. If you’re going to play the game, I guess, that’s the right approach. And a lot of people must agree. The ALS Association — the acronym stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease — didn’t invent the concept of the challenge but surely is delighted someone did. Since the fad began, the association says it’s seen $41.8 million in contributions — a big jump from a paltry $2.1 million in the same period last year.

 

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/08/24/ice-bucket-challenge-gimmick-best-not-repeated/8AMRgZVtCBKyvU7RSX1whN/story.html

[Holac]

slacktivism

slack|tiv|ism

Pronunciation: /ˈslaktɪvɪz(ə)m

 

Actions performed online/offline in support of a political or social cause but regarded as requiring little time or involvement, e.g. signing an online petition or joining a campaign group on a social media website:

[Holac]

The most current slacktivism trend that is sweeping social media is the Ice Bucket Challenge. In all the conversations about this, it took me two days before someone mentioned in their post that it was for ALS – Lou Gehrig’s Disease. On my personal pages, I’ve not come across a lot of these posts because I started removing people a long time ago who participated in what I and many others call “slacktivism” — something that makes a person feel good, but has no actual effect on the cause they are promoting.

 

When something like this invades pop culture, there’s always a debate about whether the viral nature of the stunt outweighs any benefits to the actual cause. Currently, the ALS Foundation states that since the Ice Bucket Challenge campaign, they have raised $15.6 million, which is nearly nine times more than what they raised during June, July and August of 2013. Other ALS charities have stated that their donations have increased substantially by these ice bucket challenges, and at the end of the day, isn’t that the goal?

 

Why do we even care what someone posts on Facebook if, when all is said and done, someone is spurred to donate money to a good cause? Why do I remove someone when I see yet another acquaintance post “why is no one around whenever I’m horny?”

 

 

Well, because there’s a difference between actual donations or awareness and being sucked up into a social media popularity contest.

 

Breast Cancer awareness is the most prevalent “cause” taken up by slacktivists. The above mentioned quote comes from the most recent breast cancer chainmail that was sent around for 2014. Most of these messages stem from that one time when women posted a color (the color of their bras! Gasp! Soooo risque!) on Facebook statuses worldwide in an effort to flummox men. Oh yeah, and of course, raise awareness for breast cancers. When the trend was picked up by news outlets, it ensured that each year, women will be messaged by by their Facebook “friends” in a gotcha moment: You liked the chain mail status! If you truly care about people and aren’t a horrible person who would like to watch the little tiny babies of Africa starve, then of COURSE you’ll play this simple, stupid, and obtuse game — as long as you don’t tell anyone! Remember: It’s for breast cancer awareness! Just make sure that you share that. Even more insulting, the emails usually include the title of “20XX Breast Cancer Game.”

 

That’s right — breast cancer has been so successfully marketed that most people don’t see breast cancer as a fight; rather, they see raising awareness as a game. However, survivors and victims don’t. Lisa Bonchek Adams, a woman who has been fighting breast cancer for years, has written two posts that summarize my feelings of frustration at slacktivism that I am unable to eloquently articulate.

 

http://theflounce.com/values-slacktivism-ice-bucket-challenge-cynicism-social-media/

[ElPunto]

Not sure why this is resulting in a long rant. It is a gimmick - but one that has raised a lot of money for a good cause. Why can't that be the metric to judge things rather than try to speculate on people's motives?

[Alpha Blondy]

<cite>

@ElPunto

said:</cite>

Not sure why this is resulting in a long rant. It is a gimmick - but one that has raised a lot of money for a good cause. Why can't that be the metric to judge things rather than try to speculate on people's motives?

 

you ought to know these Somalis by now. haters will hate, ma maqashay?

[DoctorKenney]

I agree it's pretty foolish, but people naturally always want the "next challenge" to complete.

 

First there was the Cinnamon Challenge. Where you had to swallow a spoonful of raw cinnamon and try not to choke.

 

Then there was the Sprite challenge. Then there was the Fire challenge. This was just next in that phase.

 

Half the people doing this "Ice Bucket Challenge" don't even know what ALS disease is. It's mostly just a bunch of kids and celebrities "daring" each other to go through with this foolish challenge.