Social Media as a whole is something that has become an almost integral part of everyone's daily lives here in this technological age we live in. According to Social Media Today, teens spend around 9 hours a day on social media, allotting over 30% of their online time to social media interaction. With this sheer amount of attention daily, it's no question why social media can bring about viral trends -- some with lasting impacts that can do a great deal of good.
Yes, there are trends with little real-world value like the "cinnamon challenge" and the "whisper challenge" that are basically little games played where you try and swallow a spoonful of spices or read someone's lips to form a sentence, but there are also trends that spread the word for bigger, more noble causes.
1. World Wildlife Foundation: The Last Selfie
This campaign was brought into existence by the Danish branch of the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) in April of 2014 in an attempt to communicate how fleeting life is and how fast a species can go extinct if not taken care of. The platform they used was Snapchat, the perfect channel to push their message as the pictures posted "disappeared" after a few seconds, as the platform's ephemeral content is known and loved for. In fact, this movement was one of the first international campaigns to depend on Snapchat, helping add to the media attention and eventual success of the message. This campaign was so well received that it was pushed a week further, spreading onto Twitter and causing the hashtag "#LastSelfie" to go viral as people shared screenshots of their snaps.
2. ALS Association: Ice Bucket Challenge
This campaign was created in order to raise awareness for the devastating disease known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which, according to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke is a "group of rare neurological diseases that mainly involve the nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movement." This challenge was created in the summer of 2014 and quickly gained followers to the trend, which was to post a video of yourself on any video-supporting platform (mainly Facebook) either donating to the ALS Association or pouring a bucket of ice cold water on your head, then tagging more victims to join you. For the entirety of the summer, these videos swarmed the Internet, not only raising over $115 million towards the cause, but raising awareness globally and even an increasing the research budget.
3. Me Too Campaign
This campaign is not associated with a brand or a company. This message came about naturally to give voice to the millions of women (and some men) around the globe who have ever been sexually assaulted or harassed and have been quiet about it due to social criticism. It all started with a single Tweet from actress and activist Alyssa Milano on October 15, 2017, calling all victims of sexual assault to respond with a "me too" to her post. Social media, namely Twitter, was an important part of this movement growing as much as it did, as it connected those going through similar situations and showed the victims that they are "not alone." The hashtag created "#MeToo" was shared over one million times in under 48 hours from all around the world. This movement was so successful that all the people who spoke out, otherwise known as the "silence breakers," have been named TIME Magazine's person of the year.
Yes, there are trends with little real-world value like the "cinnamon challenge" and the "whisper challenge" that are basically little games played where you try and swallow a spoonful of spices or read someone's lips to form a sentence, but there are also trends that spread the word for bigger, more noble causes.
1. World Wildlife Foundation: The Last Selfie
This campaign was brought into existence by the Danish branch of the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) in April of 2014 in an attempt to communicate how fleeting life is and how fast a species can go extinct if not taken care of. The platform they used was Snapchat, the perfect channel to push their message as the pictures posted "disappeared" after a few seconds, as the platform's ephemeral content is known and loved for. In fact, this movement was one of the first international campaigns to depend on Snapchat, helping add to the media attention and eventual success of the message. This campaign was so well received that it was pushed a week further, spreading onto Twitter and causing the hashtag "#LastSelfie" to go viral as people shared screenshots of their snaps.
2. ALS Association: Ice Bucket Challenge
This campaign was created in order to raise awareness for the devastating disease known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which, according to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke is a "group of rare neurological diseases that mainly involve the nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movement." This challenge was created in the summer of 2014 and quickly gained followers to the trend, which was to post a video of yourself on any video-supporting platform (mainly Facebook) either donating to the ALS Association or pouring a bucket of ice cold water on your head, then tagging more victims to join you. For the entirety of the summer, these videos swarmed the Internet, not only raising over $115 million towards the cause, but raising awareness globally and even an increasing the research budget.
3. Me Too Campaign
This campaign is not associated with a brand or a company. This message came about naturally to give voice to the millions of women (and some men) around the globe who have ever been sexually assaulted or harassed and have been quiet about it due to social criticism. It all started with a single Tweet from actress and activist Alyssa Milano on October 15, 2017, calling all victims of sexual assault to respond with a "me too" to her post. Social media, namely Twitter, was an important part of this movement growing as much as it did, as it connected those going through similar situations and showed the victims that they are "not alone." The hashtag created "#MeToo" was shared over one million times in under 48 hours from all around the world. This movement was so successful that all the people who spoke out, otherwise known as the "silence breakers," have been named TIME Magazine's person of the year.
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