2014 has seen the takeoff of nomination trends across social media sites. First we saw #Neknomination take to the screens of our devices in February as people were encouraged to drink a concoction of alcohol followed by nominating a handful of friends to do the same. The trend quickly got out of hand however when people began to drink dangerous amounts of alcohol resulting in a number of deaths across the globe.
The nomination trend was then picked up again but this time for a much better cause. March brought us the #NoMakeUpSelfie, where females in their thousands uploaded bare-faced snaps to their social media to help raise awareness for breast cancer. How can this be a better cause, you say? Well, females were encouraged to make a donation of £3 to Cancer Research UK via text, while uploading their selfie. #NoMakeUpSelfie has raised to date, over £8,000,000!
In the case of Cancer Research UK, they received a huge sum of donations without doing any of the work themselves. #NoMakeUpSelfie went viral in just a couple of days; people worldwide were uploading photos and making donations, including celebrities - and it wasn’t even started by the charity!
The latest nomination to flood social media is the ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’, set up by Pete Frates from the USA. The challenge involves a nominee being filmed throwing a bucked of ice-cold water over themselves and then proceeding to nominate a selection of friends to do the same. The internet is currently awash with videos of the general public dousing themselves in freezing water and even the rich and famous are participating in this fundraiser. The likes of Simon Cowell, Bill Gates, Cheryl Cole, Sarah Jessica Parker and David Beckham have all been filmed braving the showering sub-zero temperatures.
The videos are of the same nature as #NoMakeUpSelfie in that they have not been set up by the charity itself. Ice Bucket Challenge is raising awareness and money for research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a form of motor neurone disease. Money is also being donated to Motor Neurone Disease Association and Macmillan Cancer Support.
The internet is now often referred to as ‘The Ultimate Marketing Machine’. We are glad to see that internet users have learnt from the tragedies that happened during #NekNominations and now viral trends are beginning to support causes and raise awareness of issues that affect daily lives.
One member of our team is preparing to take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge next week so watch this space...!