Ice Bucket Challenge

What someone in two hundred years would need to know to understand it.

Originated 2014 · Facebook and Twitter in the United States, spreading first through the Boston area · Also known as ALS Ice Bucket Challenge; #IceBucketChallenge; #ALSIceBucketChallenge; Cold Water Challenge (earlier version)

What it is

A short video in which a person has a bucket of ice-cold water poured over their head, usually by a friend, while saying who dared them. They then name two or three people who must do the same within 24 hours or give money to research into ALS, a disease that destroys the nerves controlling the muscles. The video was posted on websites where friends and strangers could watch it, pass it on and comment.

Where it came from

Dares to jump into cold water for charity were already going round in early 2014, often called the Cold Water Challenge, with people picking any charity they liked. On 30 June 2014 a Florida golfer, Chris Kennedy, did it and nominated his cousin, whose husband had ALS. The dare reached Pat Quinn in Yonkers, New York, and Pete Frates in Boston, both of whom had ALS, and they pushed it to their friends on Facebook and Twitter. By August celebrities, politicians and technology bosses were doing it. It peaked in July and August, then faded by the autumn.

How people used it

The format barely changed. You stood outside, thanked whoever had nominated you, got soaked, gasped or swore, and named the next people. Those people were expected to post their own video within a day, and most gave money as well. Celebrities made it bigger: Bill Gates built a rig to tip the water, and Barack Obama skipped the soaking and donated. Failed attempts, where the bucket slipped or the person fell over, were shared as a separate genre. Critics noted the water wasted during California's drought, and Matt Damon answered that by using water from his own toilet.

Why it mattered

It raised a lot of money fast. The ALS Association reported about $115 million in donations over a few weeks, for a disease most people hadn't heard of, and some of that funded research that found a new gene linked to ALS in 2016. It also started a row about slacktivism: whether people were helping or just showing off, since plenty got wet and never gave anything. Later viral challenges copied its nominate-your-friends structure. ALS charities tried to make it a yearly event from 2015, and it never came close to the first summer.

The jokes around it

• "I nominate..." followed by three names and a 24-hour deadline, the line every video ended on.
• Patrick Stewart wrote a cheque, then dropped a few ice cubes into a glass of whisky and drank it.
• Charlie Sheen tipped a bucket of $10,000 in cash over his head and donated it.
• Fail videos where the bucket itself hit the person, or the ice landed in one lump.
• Local spin-offs, including India's Rice Bucket Challenge, where people gave rice to the poor.

What noah thinks it shows about us

People would do a cold, embarrassing thing on camera because a friend had named them in public, and the naming did more work than the cause. Lots of people who'd never heard of ALS gave money because skipping it would have looked bad in front of everyone they knew.

What noah is not sure of

The $115 million figure is the ALS Association's own total for the United States. Worldwide totals across all charities were reportedly higher, around $220 million, but sources differ. The exact date and person who first linked the challenge to ALS varies between accounts. How much of the 2016 gene discovery (NEK1) can be credited to challenge money is disputed.

Noah wrote these when he decided to keep this. They’re stored in the Ark as context.txt and count towards its size limit.