--- title: The Ice Bucket Challenge: Social Media's Newest Viral Campaign description: The Ice Bucket Challenge is ironically one of the hottest things on social media as it tries to raise money for ALS charities. canonical: https://time.com/3101414/the-ice-bucket-challenge-takes-over-social-media/ author: TIME Video article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-11T20:54:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:58:19.736Z article:section: Health og:title: The Ice Bucket Challenge: Social Media's Newest Viral Campaign og:description: The Ice Bucket Challenge is ironically one of the hottest things on social media as it tries to raise money for ALS charities. og:url: https://time.com/3101414/the-ice-bucket-challenge-takes-over-social-media/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta80154c12df5c4bf/69869f13cd804df262ccc4cf/ice-bucket-1280x720.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1280 og:image:height: 720 og:image:alt: Ice Bucket og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Ice Bucket Challenge: Social Media's Newest Viral Campaign twitter:description: The Ice Bucket Challenge is ironically one of the hottest things on social media as it tries to raise money for ALS charities. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta80154c12df5c4bf/69869f13cd804df262ccc4cf/ice-bucket-1280x720.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Ice Bucket Challenge Takes Over Social Media > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=36918cb6-1ba7-4f7f-b130-2487544e3278&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: It’ll Be A Cold Day: The Ice Bucket Challenge [Watch (HLS stream): It’ll Be A Cold Day: The Ice Bucket Challenge](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GIHofBBD.m3u8) (1:33)  _Published 2014-08-11. If you’ve seen people all over your newsfeed dumping buckets of ice water on themselves, you’re not alone. The Ice Bucket Challenge is ironically one of the hottest things on social media as it tries to raise money for ALS charities._ by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Aug 11, 2014 8:54 PM UTC by [TIME Video](https://time.com/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Aug 11, 2014 8:54 PM UTC Social media networks have been taken over by the ice bucket challenge, an online effort to raise money for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS, charities. ALS, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a neurodegenerative disease. The challenge entails an individual dumping a bucket of ice water on themselves while recording it, and then posting the video on Facebook while tagging the people they would like to challenge next. Those individuals are then challenged to either do the same or donate $100 to the ALS Association. Notable participants in the challenge include Martha Stewart, _The Fault In Our Stars_ actor Ansel Elgort, and a mass group in the city of Boston. The challenge has been heralded as successful thus far, with [over $1.35 million](http://time.com/3101166/heres-how-much-money-the-als-ice-water-stunt-has-collected/) raised for the ALS Association since the campaign began. ## Transcript If you've seen people all over your news feed dumping buckets of ice water on themselves, you're not alone. The ice bucket challenge is ironically one of the hottest things on social media as it tries to raise money for ALS foundations. The challenge went viral thanks to former Boston College pitcher Pete Frates, who was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease disease in 2012. So what does the challenge entail? A person dumps ice water on themselves and then challenges six other people to do the same in 24 hours or donate $ 100 to an ALS charity. Celebrities such as The Fault in Our Stars actor Ansel Elgort and Martha Stewart have joined in on the challenge. Boston. com and. Frank's parents organized a mass ice bucket challenge last Thursday, after which, the website challenged New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Some questioned the effect of the ice bucket challenge with the Boston Herald quoting a Twitter user as saying. I don't see how dumping a bucket of ice water over your head can cure a disease. Meanwhile Frates told the paper, via Facebook, that exposure like this is what the ALS community needs so we can even attempt to find a cure and reversal for people living with this insidious disease. The challenge has led to a spike in donations for the ALS Association. The foundation's president, Barbara Newhouse, told CBS's WBZ News Radio that the organization raised more than $ 168, 000 in online donations in the past week, compared to just $ 14, 000 over the same time frame last year. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3101414/the-ice-bucket-challenge-takes-over-social-media/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3101414/the-ice-bucket-challenge-takes-over-social-media/"},"headline":"The Ice Bucket Challenge Takes Over Social Media","datePublished":"2014-08-11T20:54:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T08:58:19.736Z","description":"Viral campaign has raised over $1.35 million for the ALS Association","url":"https://time.com/3101414/the-ice-bucket-challenge-takes-over-social-media/","keywords":["Fundraising","Newsfeed","Charity","health","Wellness","Lou Gehrig's disease","ALS"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta80154c12df5c4bf/69869f13cd804df262ccc4cf/ice-bucket-1280x720.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta80154c12df5c4bf/69869f13cd804df262ccc4cf/ice-bucket-1280x720.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ice Bucket","caption":"Ice Bucket","creditText":"David L. 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