They have gone viral. Videos of people dumping buckets of ice water on their heads flooded social media this summer. Known as the “Ice Bucket Challenge,” this was originally created as a campaign with the purpose of donating money to the ALS Association. Justin Timberlake, Demi Lovato, Jimmy Fallon and Eli Manning all completed the challenge. It must be quite virtuous if celebrities are also following the trend, right? Well, not exactly.

I can’t deny that the campaign is working. According to “Time” magazine, last year between late July and the end of August, the ALS Association raised about $2.8 million. This year, however, that was exponentially increased to $100 million in the same time period.

Although this challenge has resulted in immense donations to the ALS Association, the ends do not justify the means. Generally, the pure sincerity of the people who accept the challenge seems to be contrived. In fact, the way the challenge is set up makes contributing to ALS an alternative to ice-dumping. According to a survey, of 50 students who completed the challenge, about 60% of them admitted that they did not donate to the ALS Association.

This increase in egocentric motives is further demonstrated with the viral clips circling the web. They aren’t anything like awareness videos. They contain no information about the disease, the importance of the disease or why a donation is important.

Instead, these videos seem more like ways to blindly follow what everyone else is doing, to show off your altruistic mindset or even to display how attractive you look shirtless.

Don’t get caught up in the self-absorbed and narcissistic aspect of the challenge. Remember the true purpose of donating to ALS.

Although the Ice Bucket Challenge trend may  has disappeared, remember that when a new charitable trend appears, don’t take advantage of it by promoting yourself.

You might not get as many Facebook likes, but at least you’re being courageous enough to promote the authenticity of charitable actions.