Is the Ice Bucket Challenge helping or hindering the cause?

Today's Times carried a report about an 18 year-old man in Scotland who drowned after diving into a disused quarry filled with water. It's believed he was taking part in the ice bucket challenge just before he drowned.

The trend was also hit by tragedy last week when 27 year-old Corey Griffin, one of its inventors, drowned in a swimming accident in the US. His death has been directly linked to the ice bucket challenge.

Recognising the potential for empty exhibitionism, some people are responding to the challenge by choosing to 'pay-it-on'.

We first saw this kind of response emerge during the much more dangerous fad known as neknominating, which involved people drinking large quantities of alcohol and challenging others to do the same. This, too, was promoted using social media.

Some people, perhaps in a defiant statement of their independence of thought, chose to forego the proscribed challenge activity and simply gave their time or money to a charity of their choice.

The result, as far as the charities were concerned, was the same.

Arguably we're all show-offs at some level, but with anything as viral and visual as the ice bucket challenge there's always the possibility that we'll become distracted by the hoopla and lose sight of the goal.

Perhaps before any of us takes part in something like this, we need to pause for breath. We may need to ask whether or not this representsthe best way for us to take part in raising funds and awareness.

If we're going to dump iced water on our heads, we should move forward with our eyes on the goal, as many have undoubtedly done, rather than indulging in empty exhibitionism.