The Role and Impact of Social Media on Online Social Movements: An Analysis of ‘ALS Ice Bucket Challenge’ in India

Abstract

Online social movements have taken root and flourished in the last decade due to online communication networks attributed to Social media. In this paper, the mixed-method approach is utilized for qualita- tive and quantitative analysis to investigate the efficacy of social media in propounding the outcome of online social movements in India. Further, several factors which have a definite impact on the outcomes of such online social movements are highlighted. This study concludes that online social media campaigns can be viewed as an extension of ‘social norms media campaigns’. Further, it establishes that the internet penetration in India coupled with ‘online peer pressure’ accompanying such movements has ef- fectively aroused the consciousness of users towards such campaigns. It also highlights the alteration in the process of diffusion of ideas in society due to the advent of social media platforms.