On August 27, the middle school is completing the ALS Ice
Bucket Challenge. While I hope this
provides us with some fun and laughs as well as increase knowledge about the
disease and its effects, I want to spend some additional time discussing the immense
power of social media.
Too often we only focus on the negative impacts of social
media. Things that go viral are often
negative or pointless. This is
neither. With imagination and simplicity
this campaign may have changed forever how we raise awareness and funding to
special causes that more often than not go unnoticed.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge started with the story of one
man, Pete Frates. Using his story as an
inspiration, a simple and direct fundraising idea was born. It success has shocked everyone. According to Wikipedia between the dates of
July 29th and August 21st, $41.8 million dollars have
been donated to aid ALS research and education compared to $1.8 million a year
ago. Between June 1st and
August 13th 1.2 million videos have been posted to Facebook. Lastly, between July 29 and August 17 there
have been 2.2 million tweets.
I think why it was so successful because every one felt really terrible for Pete Frates because nobody had any Idea about what ALS does, and now that they do, they really want to help everyone who has it and cure it because it's a very bad disease.
ReplyDeleteWhat I learned about ALS this week was that the scientific name is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and that scar tissue builds up on your lateral nerves which then the signals from your brain cant travel past because the scar tissue is blocking the path.
1. I think the ice bucket challenge has been so successful because Pete Frates did it when he had ALS and other people knew about him.
ReplyDelete2. I learned that when you get ALS people are not able to under stand you when you are talking and trying to speak .
I think it has been so successful partly because Boston has some die hard baseball fans, so when they heard that their favorite player was going to die of ALS they knew the needed to do something about it. So when Frates came up with the idea for the #ALSIceBucketChallenge, IT WENT VIRAL. I also learned that since ALS affects about 30,000 people a year, that's why it goes very unnoticed.
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ReplyDeleteI think its because so many kids are on social media and it is a fun way to raise money and awareness. Also Pete is a fighter and knows he will die but he is still super positive. He has lived a good life and ALS has made us more aware of what we have to fight for. I learned that ALS is fatal and has not been given much attention.
ReplyDeletei think it has been so successful because Pete Frates challenged all of his friends and they posted it on social media and other people saw it so they did it and it went on and on. I learned that it is hard to speak with als, a fork is 8 pounds to them but their brain could be as sharp as a tack they just cant express their words
ReplyDeleteI think that the ice bucket challenge has been so successful because of social media. Also I think the ice bucket challenge has been so successful because celeberties have done it. I learned that the majority of people that have ALS die between 2-5 years. I learned that you can lose their ability to talk and walk. For some people that have ALS lifting a fork can feel like lifting 10 pounds.
ReplyDeleteI think the ice bucket challenge is so successful because the disease is so fatal to people and there's not that much research being put in for it and then people are dying of it and ninety percent of the time we don't know what causes it . I learned that there is no cure and that ten percent of people get it genetically but the other ninety percent doctors cant figure out what causes it. I also learned that ALS is a disease that damages scar tissue and that causes you to lose control of all of your muscle's.
ReplyDeleteI think the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has been so successful because of how it involves fun and social media, two things that can be incredibly motivating. It has been one of those few things gone viral that is just so touching and it gives you temporary immobility so it can simulate ALS. I learnt that ALS is a truly horrifying disease. Doing the examples in class and watching Pete Frates's story, I believe that this disease should be paid attention to.
ReplyDeleteI think it has been gone viral because it has a great story and it is from the person not from one of his friends.It was from the man who had it. I learned that it is a deathly disease and you only live for ~2-5 years before you die.They do not have a cure for it.It usually happens between the age of 45-55.
ReplyDeleteEverybody fells bad that this happen to Pete Frates and is trying to help every body with it. I think thay will find a cure in the next few years so everybody can go back to living a normal life.That ALS paralises you and can kill you whiten 2-5 years . It attacks your mussel movement.
ReplyDeleteI think its so popular because its such a great cause so his friends did it then they posted it on social media and challenged others then they saw it and did it and challenged more people until it was being done everywhere. And people probably did it was to do it for a good cause and because they saw it was getting popular. I learned that one of the early symptoms of ALS is things start to fell heavier and you speech starts to slip until you can't speak.
ReplyDeleteI think it has been succsessful because so many people have done it and been nominated and done it either for fun or for someone they know who has ALS. If you have ALS you will most likely have it for 2-5 years. ALS puts scars on your nerves so you will never get the message you will also be paralizied permanently.
ReplyDeleteI think that ALS spread on the social websites because of all of the actors and sports teams and all these people want to get a cure or raise money to find a why to cure ALS. This week I learned that als attacks the nervous system and the respiratory system and can paralyze you.You can also die in 2 to 5 years from als.This is a very serious disease and were are trying to find a cure!
ReplyDeleteI think it is so successful because its really fun and people raise so much awareness about it. I didnt even know what ALS was before I came to school. I learned that you only have 2-5 years to live after your diagnosed , it attacks your nervous system, and causes muscle weakness. It such a horrible disease and I am glad that we are raising so much awareness.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is successful because of Pete and his Boston baseball fans. and they dumped ice on them self's.
ReplyDeleteI now that the A.L.S is a disease that effects a lot of people every year.
1. I think the ice bucket challenge because Pete Frates story was so inspiring and everybody wanted to contribute.People like Peyton Manning did it so it made it more popular.
ReplyDelete2. I learned that ALS is a fatal disease and there is no cure yet. It effects your neurons and makes you paralyzed. You tend to die 2-5 years after diagnosis.
I think it went viral because he might have had a large fan base in Boston because he played college baseball and it caught the attention of celebrities and athletes who then did it. I think he is handling the disease well and doing something great even in his condition. Even when I did the ice bucket challenge all I knew was that is affected the muscles. When Ms. G told us about it I asked my granddad, and found out my great grandmother died of it. I now Know what ALS stands for.
ReplyDeleteI think it was because Pete challenged the athletes in Boston and then all the other athletes did it. Then everyone else saw it on social media and then went viral. I learned that the disease gets over time and after diagnoses a person lives 2-5 years on average.
ReplyDeletePete Frates is a very popular baseball player and he has A.L.S. Pete made it very clear he wanted people to learn more about A.L.S and so his friends decided to start up the A.L.S ice-bucket challenge.Then, people started posting the videos on social media of the A.L.S ice-bucket challenge, so other people did it, and then more, and then more.
ReplyDeleteI think the challenge was so successful because we should really find a cure for ALS, so not so many people die from it. I had no idea what ALS was before today. Now I know you have 2-5 years to live after diagnosis and it causes muscle weakness. I am very glad we are raising so much awareness about it. It is very horrible and we should raise as much awareness as we can to find a cure.
ReplyDeleteI think why it was so successful because Pete Frates challenged a baseball team the Pirates. Then when they started it all these famous people and other people started doing and it was really fun to do and raise too. I learned the name of ALS means and stands for, that it weakens all your muscles, you can die from it in 8 years, and that 30,000 people in America have it.
ReplyDeleteI think that the ALS challenge is so sucsessful because of the beautiful simplicity of it, and since Lou Gerig and Pete F. are both famous and both have/had it. Before this week, I didn't even know what ALS was. Yet here I am today about to raise both money and awareness for it. ALS attacks your nervous system so that your brain can't send signals to your body. It is a fatal disease. What made me want to do the challenge is that I connected emotionaly with the people who have it and their families. I am proud to be doing the ice bucket challenge for all those with ALS.
ReplyDeleteThe A.L.S ice bucket challenge is so popular because of Pete Frates he was diagnosed with A.L.S and he wanted his friends to dump ice water on their heads also known as the A.L.S ice bucket challenge then they posted on social media and it went viral everybody was doing it like Justin Timberlake. Any way A.L.S is a disease that you cant move anything not even your head only your eyes. You cant even eat you have to eat through a tube and breathe through a tube you have to sit in a wheelchair all day long you cant do anything like sports you soon cant talk you have to do it on screens you cant move your. That is all about A.L.S.
ReplyDeleteI think the ice bucket challenge has been so successful because people want to raise money for research and because its fun and gives people a chance to learn about a fatal disease. Before school started I knew very little about the ice bucket challenge and ALS. I have learned that when u are diagnosed you usually have about 2-5 years to live. I also know that its called Lou Gehrigs disease and that it is a muscle weakening disease that ends up paralyzing your whole body. I hope we find a cure for this deadly disease.
ReplyDeleteI think the ALS ice bucket challenge has been so successful because so many people understand how it affects people with ALS and how hard it is to live with it. I think it is fun to nominate friends and actually do it. A lot people want to help find a cure for it by donating money. This week I have learned that the brain can't send messages to muscles to do things because there is something blocking the messages to going to where they need to go. I also learned that picking up small things feels really heavy and they can't talk very well.
ReplyDeleteThe ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has been so successful because of the chain reaction if you tag 3 people to do it and they each do it and tag 3 people as well and they do it that's 12 people already. Another thing is that celebrities are doing it so people that look up to these celebrities and then they want to do it. When you get ALS the average amount of time people live is 2-5 years. Some other things i learned where that 90% of people with ALS have no idea as they got it and 10% is genetic. Overall I learned that it is great that this when viral because they needed to raise money and awareness.
ReplyDeleteI think the "Ice Bucket Challenge" has been so successful because I think most people or at least I do, think about how it would feel if you had this disease.You wouldn't be able to move at anything but your eyes and just thinking: wow I'm gonna die one of these days. I feel extremely bad for Pete because he was an amazing baseball player and he had a great passion for it and now he can't even play. I also think social media had a big help in it everybody wanted to find a cure. I learned that if you have ALS you only live 2-5 years and it makes you have muscle weakness and you can't talk right. I hope we find a cure for ALS and good luck to all the people that have it!
ReplyDeleteI think the ice bucket challenge is so successful because it is all over social media and a lot of famous people did it. Pete Fraters story is one of the coolest stories in the world. I learned that als is a very fatal disies .
ReplyDeleteHere is what I think the Ice Bucket was successful because Pete Fraters is a famous baseball player. Once a famous has A.L.S everyone knows. When Pete's friends had the idea of the Ice Bucket challenge and post it on face book everyone saw it they want to do it. Then more people did it. I learned that people with A..L.S can't do as many things they loved to. Like Pete he can't play baseball anymore because he has A.L.S . I also learned that you live 2-5 years if you have A.L.S.
ReplyDeleteI think the ice bucket challenge was so succsesful because a couple of famous people died from it and many people shared the idea. I learned that only 20,000 have ALS in the U.S.A.
ReplyDeleteI think the als ice bucket challenge was successful because it raised awareness. People who have als only live for 2-5 years after being dignosted with als. ALS is also fatal. Only about 20,000 people in the USA have it.When you have als you are stopped form doing things they love most.
ReplyDeletei think the als ice bucket challenge is so successful because famous people died from it and people really started sharing the idea and leaning from it. i leaned this week that 20,000 have als in the USA
ReplyDeletei think that it is amazing that ALS research has raised $41.8 million dollars for research and it's amazing that there was 1.2 million videos posted on face book and there has been 2.2 million tweets about ALS ice bucket challenge it is quite amazing and i hope to raise even more money next year! ^_^
ReplyDeleteit is very cool thatPete freights a a challenged the Boston people in baseball players it spread very quickly in now that is good because it they can find research and do other things and help the people who has ALS Lotta people did not didn't even have an idea of what ALS was now they know is very in it that is very important
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