I just watched the viral video
about Joseph Kony. In addition to being emotionally moved by the images in this film, I was reminded of this class. The film documents the beginning and
evolution of the Invisible Children movement. Invisible Children is a group
formed to bring a voice to children in Central Africa who are affected by the
violence of a group called the Lord's Resistance Army.
The video informs us that this group is led by a man named Joseph Kony.
Kony has committed a huge number of heinous crimes, including abduction, rape,
and sexual slavery. He is the number 1 person on the International Criminal
Court’s list.
The video
was made in order to spread awareness about the events happening in Africa.
Invisible children has led a largely social media based campaign to raise
awareness and to gather enough support to create enough of a presence for the
government to act. The US government deployed troops to aid the Ugandan troops
in finding Kony. This video acts as a way to ignite enough interest in the
campaign to continue the support of US troops, and most importantly, US
technology in Uganda. The video has a great man images that show just how the
groundswell is a part of changing the decision of the largest institution
around: government’s mind about funding. The video also employs an image of a
triangle turned upside down to show how the groundswell has shifted the balance
of power.
The morning
after watching this viral video, I found a great deal more about the subject on
Facebook. It seems that the world had indeed taken notice of the attention the video
had garnered, and a great deal of this was negative attention. Many who had been active in all along in this cause were very irritated that a viral video was spreading what many deemed faulty, baised information.
Posted By Joshua Keating 
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - 5:18 PM 
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There was backlash at Invisible Children, for spending a great deal of their funding on video production when there are far greater uses for this capital. There were amusing backlashes, as well as harsh ones. Willy Wonka had a great deal to say on the subject.
Among the criticisms of the video were the fact that Kony is not, and has not been in Uganda for many years, and the video led people to believe false information, the fact that the individuals in the video being activists were mostly white, leading to a belief that Africa cannot solve its own problems without the charity of the Western world, or "White Savior" and so many others. The viral video has sparked its own trail of comments and response videos, as well as accusations that there are many other warlords and international criminals receiving little to no attention. This article chronicles the social media backlash and offers solutions for the future. The Los Angeles Times also has published an article on the subject and its ramifications for activists.
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ReplyDeleteIt is very disturbing to know that this has been going on for many years and we are still discussing why the US government and others have been slow to take action. It is positive that improvements in education and awareness programs have been introduced within these communities; however, it has proven not to be enough to stop the injustice towards children. Hopefully, social media can help to bring further awareness pushing for action of arrest and the ability to work with the thirty some thousand children who have been brain washed, as well as speaking to the communities around their homes and finding what their needs are and how we can assist and support the communities. It seems that we have moved forth in creating awareness with President Obama and the Senate's passing of 100 advising assistants to help the Ugandan government in support of stopping Kony and the abduction of children. Hopefully, more support will be given not only through the US, but internationally, as well. However, I don't like the scary photo's of Gene Wilder and the comments connected to the image. Yet,this is a great example of social media.
ReplyDeleteI was about to write my blog post about this and then figured I should check if anyone in the class already did! I thought it was an excellent example about the effect of social media. I was on vacation when the video came out and therefore my extent of the internet was basically checking my news feed. Out of nowhere I see all of this about Kony 2012, and I was like WHAT IS THIS. I knew about Invisible Children and the atrocity that is happening, but I did not know Joseph Kony's name. Regardless of everyone's opinion of Invisible Children and whether or not their money is going to the right place, the organization most definitely accomplished it's goal; they made Joseph Kony famous.
ReplyDeleteAmongst all the backlash against Invisible Children for spending money on this kind of initiative, it worked. Maybe it could have been done in a way that better represented the current facts or work for the people who already knew about this as well, but regardless of all the nay-sayers, it worked. It was all over facebook, twitter, and tons of other social media. It got news coverage and attention from thousands of people who had no idea this was even going on. If it got people to pay attention and even donate to an organization that really does do great work, then I would have to argue that it was successful. A great example of how powerful social media can be in grassroots movements.
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