As you scroll down your Facebook or Instagram feed, it’s impossible not to encounter yet another amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, Ice Bucket Challenge video. You may even roll your eyes in disgust. Another one of those trendy activist movements, you think to yourself, soon to go the same way of KONY 2012 or No Makeup Selfie for Cancer Awareness.

Admittedly, it’s difficult not to experience some sort of weariness when it comes to movements such as these. One has to wonder about the sincerity behind dumping water over one’s own head or taking a selfie in order to advocate for some cause. Are we partaking in these movements because we want to draw attention to the cause itself or because we want to draw attention to ourselves?

At the same time, we have to acknowledge the reality of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and others of its kind. To be blunt, they get results. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has raised about $94 million since its inception. It has brought attention to an illness that was practically invisible until a few short weeks ago. Furthermore, a social movement by its very nature requires a large following in order for it to succeed. Who are we to fault these people for contributing to the success of this movement?

Yes, genuinely caring about an issue is so much better than giving attention to it because it is trendy. No one denies that.  But is insincerity towards something really less desirable than apathy? Our apathy didn’t raise nearly $100 million for a fatal illness. But our desire for Facebook likes did.

So while we may wish that there were a more socially conscious reason behind why our second cousin’s boyfriend dumped water on himself, the reality is that as far as social movements go, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has been a wild success. Even if he himself could care less about the letters A, S or L, chances are that someone else will. That’s the causal power of a social movement — a phenomenon that’s definitely annoying, but also quite effective. How many of us could honestly say we knew what ALS stood for up until a few weeks ago?

On the one hand, the ALS Ice Bucket Cwhallenge raises a timeless moral question: Are our actions good because they cause good results? Or do we need to have good intentions behind our actions in order for them to be good?

More immediately, the ALS challenge should make us consider the increasingly social nature of our existence. And as we delve deeper into a world where likes and follows become more and more ingrained into our daily lives, these types of issues will only continue to arise. If the success of ALS is any indication, the phenomenon of trendy activism is here to stay.

Loyola students, we are in the middle of a social experiment, one from which we can’t distance ourselves and analyze objectively. No one here can definitely answer whether trendy activism is a good thing or a bad thing, so we invite you to both weigh in on the issue and to experiment yourselves with trendy activism.

Surely there are many worthy local issues that could use their own version of the water bucket challenge. Alternatively, if you dislike trendy activism, you can counter it most effectively by taking part in more traditional forms of activism such as volunteering to build houses, tutor students, or clean kennels at an animal shelter.

So by all means, continue to experiment. But if you do insist on dumping water all over yourself, do take some time to consider your reasons for doing so, at least until the ice water hits.