Ice Bucket Challenge

Public referral is a viral campaign strategy that takes advantage of the existence of networked culture in social media. The 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge is an exemplary instance of a public referral–based campaign, the success of which can be partly attributed to the voluntary engagement of celebrity communities. This study views celebrities as social actors and explores the ways in which celebrities’ public referral networks grew during the Ice Bucket Challenge. Findings suggest that celebrities engaged in the campaign based on restrictive social networking rules. Also, the referral network grew through homophily, wherein sociodemographic similarities played an important role in celebrities’ referral decision making. This article contends that understanding whom people select to pass along the campaign message should be as important as understanding why people share the message.

Abstract- In this digital era, anything catchy and amusing can
turn into a trend or viral phenomenon with the help of social
media, reaching out and impacting a large number of people.
For example, Harlem Shake meme, Gangnam Style song by
Psy, The Fox song by Ylvis and ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The
main focus of this paper is to study how the ALS Ice Bucket
Challenge can turn from simply a dare game among a group
of friends into fundraising campaign that succeed overnight
through social media. It is vital to identify the success factors
of this icy campaign so that it can turn into strategies which
can be applied in other campaigns to produce similar
remarkable result of ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. For this review,
related journal articles which were found through electronic
databases were studied and linked to the topic of this paper.
The findings from the review of these journal articles
suggested five aspects; namely social media marketing,
celebrities’ influence, online word-of-mouth phenomenon, viral
marketing, and right-timing marketing had contributed to the
outstanding result of ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

Keywords: social media, marketing, amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis, ice bucket challenge.

This article examines social media challenges that emerged in 2013, focusing on Ne-knomination, the Ice-Bucket Challenge and SmearForSmear. We suggest understand them as ‘viral challenge memes’ and manifest a set of consistent features that make them a distinctive phenomenon within digital culture. Drawing upon Tarde’s (1903, 2010/1888) concept of the imitative-encounter, we highlight three central features: their basis in social belonging and participation, the role of prestigious people and groups in determining the spread of challenges, and the distinctive techniques of self-presentation undertaken by participants. Based upon focus group interviews, surveys and visual analysis we suggest that viral challenge memes are social practices that dif-fuse in a wave-like fashion. Negotiating tensions between the social and individual, imitation and innovation, continuity and change, viral challenge memes are best thought of as creative practices, rather than sheep-like acts of conformity, and affirm the usefulness of analytical principles drawn from Tarde.

This article examines social media challenges that emerged in 2013, focusing on Neknomination, the Ice-Bucket Challenge and SmearForSmear. We understand them as ‘viral challenge memes’ that manifest a set of consistent features, making them a distinctive phenomenon within digital culture. Drawing upon Tarde’s concept of the imitative-encounter, we highlight three central features: their basis in social belonging and participation; the role of prestigious people and groups in determining the spread of challenges; and the distinctive techniques of self-presentation undertaken by participants. Based upon focus group interviews, surveys and visual analysis we suggest that viral challenge memes are social practices that diffuse in a wave-like fashion. Negotiating tensions between the social and individual, imitation and innovation, continuity and change, viral challenge memes are best thought of as creative practices, rather than sheep-like acts of conformity, and affirm the usefulness o...