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Friday 27 February 2015

The Icy Ice Bucket Challenge in South Africa

The power of social media.

In this day and age, our lifestyles have been modernized. We have transformed from being a traditional generation to being a technological generation, thus making social media a very powerful tool, which educates us, connects us to our loved ones, as well as keeping us updated as to what is going on around us, nationally and globally.  
And so it began…

Pete Frates, doing the Ice Bucket Challenge
It is unclear at this stage to determine the origin of the Ice Bucket challenge and when it was introduced to the public but with the help of the social media, we have an idea as to who is accredited for the creation of the challenge.Pete Frates, a Bostonian who was diagnosed with ALS in March 2012, is most commonly associated with its origin. With that being said Pat Quinn, a friend of Frates who was also diagnosed with ALS in 2013, is also credited with creating the challenge.

Did you know???

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is an activity that involves the dumping of a bucket of ice water on someone's head to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and encourage donations for research. The challenge often called the "Cold Water Challenge" became popular on social media in areas of the Northern United States in mid-2013 to early 2014.

Through social media, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was rapidly popularized. This goes to show how much of an impact social media has on campaigns and organisations in the current technological age. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram instantly made people aware as to how serious this disease is.
Stop die lorrie!!! Said the South Africans

South Africans have certainly not been left in the dark when it came to this initiative. The trend quickly grew popular in our country and we have seen on the social media platforms from the likes of Top-billing presenter, Jeannie D, iconic golf player Gary Player and so forth take part in this charitable campaign by posting up their videos doing the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Although it has not reached large masses yet our celebrities are playing a role to help promote the awareness and fight against ALS. One of our very own former springbok scrum-half, Joost van der Westhuizen has recently publicly admitted that he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). News of his diagnosis challenged the entire springbok team in order to raise more awareness.
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14 comments:

  1. Gcina27 February 2015 at 07:53

    I feel like people were doing the challenge just for the fun of it and had no real understanding as to why it existed.

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    1. YoungGeneralJHB2 March 2015 at 07:34

      I fully agree with you. The whole idea of the challenge was to raise awareness and let people know about this disease. Some people misunderstood the entire approach.

      Delete
  2. Edmund Josef3 March 2015 at 03:24

    I never understood the purpose of the ice bucket challenge, always thought that it is just a simple thing that people do to get attention. With the social media as it is today I think thy have succeeded.

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    1. YoungGeneralJHB3 March 2015 at 03:56

      Based on the number of videos that have gone viral on social media, it is safe to say that a number of people still do no have a vast idea of the challenge is about but merely do it to get attention as you have stated

      Delete
  3. Courtney Lusane Edwards3 March 2015 at 04:08

    Agreed Aya...the challenge was to raise awareness and most people misunderstood this concept and took it in the sense of a game.

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    1. YoungGeneralJHB4 March 2015 at 07:00

      In other words we should always do a background check before jumping onto the bandwagon.

      Delete
  4. Noluthando3 March 2015 at 04:32

    Aya you are my hero the ice bucket challenge did not generate a lot of money in SA because people misunderstood the challenge they did it but did not donate money does that even make sense hai people mai.

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    1. YoungGeneralJHB4 March 2015 at 06:58

      One can fairly say that it is sometimes not safe to follow a trend without having the knowledge of what the entire trend is about.

      Delete
  5. In The Loop5 March 2015 at 04:43

    Thanks for the insightful blog i did not know till know that the ice bucket challenge was there to raise funds as well and not only to create awareness on the campaign, so thanks for the education.

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  6. itsDori :)5 March 2015 at 04:59

    I feel that it was a great campaign and a point was made. i love how people done this for a great course.

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  7. Anti :)5 March 2015 at 05:35

    I really enjoyed your blog about the ice bucket challenge, everybody did it together as a unit, though there is some people whom were were very negative about this campaign

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  8. Mashudu Thangene5 March 2015 at 06:10

    I am one of those people who were negative about it. It was for a good cause. Internationally celebrities participating stated the amount of money they will donate towards the cause BUT now it became a bit confusing when South African celebrities jumped on the wagon for the challenge did they donate or was just another publicity stunt for them? they couldn't even stated why they were participating in the challenge.

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    1. YoungGeneralJHB11 May 2015 at 04:59

      In my own opinion, SA celebrities were just pulling another publicity stunt.

      Delete
  9. Chanee Pillay5 March 2015 at 07:46

    I certainly loved the idea and concept behind the campaign i just think more people should have participated.

    ReplyDelete

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