Social media activism has been seen in many forms, as evidenced by viral awareness campaigns of the past such as #BringBackOurGirls and #Kony2012 with both hashtags trending all over the world. The latest of these is the #ALSicebucketchallenge.

The viral campaign that has gained popularity over the past few days aims to raise awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, which is a neurodegenerative disease affecting the spinal cord and the brain's nerve cells. The ALS ice bucket challenge, as the name suggests, involves pouring ice buckets over those who accept the challenge and posting the video online with the given hashtag.

There are many skeptics and naysayers online who argue that the impact of "hashtag activism" is almost negligible. However, according to information that the ALS Association has learned recently, the hashtag has actually created some positive effects, BostInno reports.

Based on the research done by the association's national office, donations received over a span of six days (July 29 to August 6), have increased by as much as four times when compared to the same time period last year. Moreover, the last three days of that timeframe received 10 times as much as the donations received from the same period in 2013. As shown by these numbers, there is in fact a tangible impact.

The challenge, which was initially aimed to raise awareness for ALS, was started by Pete Frates, a former baseball player for Boston College who was diagnosed with the disease two years ago. In fact, Frates did not really think of the fundraising aspect of the challenge. However, the challenge along with the hashtag has gained so much attention that donations have also started coming in. While no figures have been revealed by the ALS Association regarding the donations, the campaign has definitely created an impact on both aspects of raising awareness and getting donations.