The Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is an activity involving pouring a bucket of ice water on one’s head to raise awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and encourage donations to research.
The origins of the idea of pouring cold water on one’s head to collect money for charity are unclear. From mid-2013 to early 2014, a challenge of called the “Cold Water Challenge” became popular on social media in areas of the Northern United States. The task involved the option of either donating money to cancer research or having to jump into cold water.
Within 24 hours of being challenged, participants are filmed continuously. First, they are to announce their acceptance（接受）of the challenge followed by putting ice into a bucket of water. The bucket is then lifted overhead and poured over the participant’s head. Then the participant can call out a challenge to other people.
In mid 2014, the Ice Bucket Challenge spread quickly on social media and became a pop culture phenomenon. According to The New York Times people shared more than 1.2 million videos on Facebook between June 1 and August 13 and mentioned the phenomenon more than 2.2 million times on Twitter since July 29.
After the Ice Bucket Challenge became popular on social media, public awareness and charitable donations to ALS charities grew rapidly. On August 21, 2014, The New York Times reported that the ALS Association had received $41.8 million in donations from July 29 until August 21. More than 739,000 new donors have given money to the association, which is more than double the $19.4 million in total contributions the association received during the year that ended January 31, 2013.
A number of people criticized the campaign, accusing it of making self-enjoyment, focusing primarily on fun rather than donating money to charity. It is feared that the challenge encouraged moral freedom and some people might take the challenge as charitable acts. Other people said the challenge wasted water, worsening（加剧）the drought in the world.
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