For the past few weeks, my Instagram feed has been full of videos with people dumping buckets of ice water over their heads. I thought at least one would come with an explanation of its purpose.

It didn’t.

I was left to look into the trend myself, and upon doing my own research, I found the trend was not being used for its intended purpose.

The University of South Carolina’s MIND club started the “Speak Your MIND” challenge to raise awareness and donations for people suffering with mental health conditions. Participants are supposed to record themselves doing the ice bucket challenge, post it with the hashtag “#SpeakyourMIND,” nominate 2-5 others and make a donation on the fundraising page. 

As people use it for their own entertainment, the trend has become the opposite. It has become more of a popularity contest than about awareness. Through the thousands of videos, none of what I have seen has spread substantial information about mental health; it is simply just a video. For the trend to have a purpose, people must do more, such as sharing resources or statistics about mental health. 

With the nomination system, it became a performance of “how many friends do I have?” It can make those who don’t get nominated feel isolated and forgotten, the opposite of the trend’s purpose. Instead of nominating close friends, people should nominate those who the trend may affect or people who are educated on the topic. 

Part of participating in the trend is donating to the fundraiser. While some people may not have the funds to donate — which is OK — entirely overlooking the donations is not. Out of the organization’s $500,000 goal, they have raised $387,925. Looking at the number of people the trend has spread to, the number should be noticeably higher. 

With the lack of people educating themselves on the purpose of the trend, it has quickly led to the spread of misinformation. In 2014, another ice bucket challenge spread across social media. This one was for ALS, a nervous system disease that causes loss of muscle control. This trend has great success with over 17 million participants and $115 million raised in donations. While spreading awareness of this disease is still important, that is not the purpose of the current ice bucket challenge. People on social media fighting over which trend is more important or which one deserves “the ice bucket challenge” name does no good for either organization — it defeats the purpose of both.

In order to truly spread awareness about these issues, people must be educated on the topics and use that to educate others. The spread of awareness and education go hand-in-hand. Donating to a cause can help more than anyone might realize. Without purpose, the ice bucket challenge means nothing. In order to make a real change, people must spread information — not just nominations.