How many videos of the ALS ice bucket challenge have been flooding your Facebook and Twitter feeds? Maybe you’ve been tagged in a few or even made one yourself.

Social media campaigns for a cause seem to be all the rage these days, from Movember to Rethink’s #FindMike. But maybe there’s more to the story than just 140 characters. After reading this article published here by the Huffington Post, I have to second guess how far a retweet truly goes.

The article recaps the last five months since the day that more than 270 young girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group. A social media campaign surrounding the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls subsequently exploded across social media platforms, demanding the release of each girl. Though 57 of the girls escaped within the first few days (and the Instagram is still being updated 5 months later), no one has been rescued or managed to do the same since then. During the high point of the social media campaign, celebrities and leaders across the nation rallied in support of tracking down the girls. See Anne Hathaway:

Of course, a campaign with so many eyes on it leads to political support, but many countries have begun to pull out efforts after having no luck locating the girls. At the same time, the girls’ families and communities have been under attack (11 of their families have been killed) and Boko Haram continues on with kidnapping the young in several other towns.

And remember Kony 2012? The Invisible Children campaign went viral as millions of people watched the video and millions of dollars flooded into the foundation. Yet, the campaign abruptly fell apart as a result of the narrator’s public meltdown and the foundation’s financial ruin.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that these campaigns are examples of creative marketing and bring invaluable attention to an issue. I just wish there was more follow through and tangible results.

What do you all think about social media campaigns for charity? Feel free to comment below!

A big thank you to Lilah Shepard for showing me the article and sparking the conversation. Lilah is the CELT fellow who writes the Change newsletter so go check it out and sign up here!

Feature photo courtesy of mashable.com.

Written by Anastasia Tencza, CELT-SI Social Media and Marketing Fellow