Over the last month, one challenge has flooded the Instagram stories of teens across America. Dubbed the “USC MIND Challenge,” these short videos include clips of people dumping buckets of ice and water over each other’s heads, attempting to open up a discussion about mental health. If you feel like these two ideas do not seem to go hand in hand, you would be correct.
However, to truly understand the nature of this trend, we need to turn back time. This is not the first time an ice bucket challenge has overtaken our screens. In fact, this challenge has proven the cyclical nature of all trends, returning a decade later with a new generation participating.
In the summer of 2014, the ice bucket challenge was founded by three young men who were living with the incurable neurodegenerative disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The goal was to create a means to spread awareness for ALS. Participants poured a bucket of ice cubes over their heads and nominated three friends to either finish the challenge in the next 24 hours or donate to ALS research.
The challenge was highly successful, reaching a “viral” status and inspiring over 17 million people around the world to participate and donate to the cause. This number included star-studded names from Taylor Swift and LeBron James to Bill Gates and Martha Stewart. Most impressively, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge raised $115 million to support groundbreaking ALS research. It seemed that with the power of social media, an unknown and incurable disease entered the global stage overnight.
Today, a new ice bucket challenge has returned to our screens under the hashtag #SpeakYourMIND. Started by the University of South Carolina’s Mental Illness Needs Discussion club, the challenge has shifted its focus to another social cause — mental health awareness.
The club sought to decrease stigma around mental health discourse, promote suicide prevention and encourage healthy and open conversation about mental wellness. However, “tried and true” is not always the mantra with unpredictable social media trends. This time around, the ice bucket challenge has gained some criticism.
The most obvious opposition is that the challenge hasn’t really worked the way it intended to. Has it gained traction and popularity? Certainly. But as a result, should we feel that mental health resources have been supported? Debatable.
The first step is to look at the cold, hard facts. The MIND club’s charity of choice was Active Minds — a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting mental health among young adults via peer-to-peer dialogue and interaction. As a result of the challenge, the organization has raised over $410,000. That sounds pretty substantial.
However, where the trend seems to fall apart is its mental health discourse — or lack thereof. What made the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge a uniquely successful trend was its consistent emphasis on the cause itself. What’s missing from the current challenge is the awareness and discussion piece.
Most of the videos that are being replicated now are 10 to 15 seconds long and go somewhere along the lines of “Hi, my name is ___. Thank you ___ for nominating me for the USC MIND Challenge. I would like to nominate ___. You have 24 hours.” After that, water is poured on the participant’s head, and the video cuts off.
Despite its viral success on social media, the USC #SpeakYourMIND Challenge seems to be just another trend that has come and gone. Whether this can be attributed to shorter attention spans or some other factor, the USC MIND Challenge has already disappeared from my screen. Sooner or later, it will enter the social media wasteland where all the other “five seconds of fame” trends reside.
Compared to the original ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the USC MIND Challenge’s impact is significantly lower both in metrics and message. Although the founders had the intention of spreading mental health awareness, I don’t think that it would be appropriate to say that their goal was achieved. The cause is rarely mentioned in these videos with the emphasis being the funny clips of friends and family being drenched in water.
Some people have even gone so far as to say that the #SpeakYourMIND challenge has potential harms to teen mental health. Given that the gateway to participating in the trend is being nominated by your friends, it is argued that this has created social anxiety and increased isolation for those struggling with mental health.
Therefore, I’ll leave you with this: nearly 10 years later, the ice bucket challenge continues in good fun. However, this time, its social impact is lacking.
