The Month of Kony

March 5, 2012, Kony 2012 took the social world by storm. This viral video took only two weeks to reach over 80 million views.  

Joseph Kony is known as an African warlord who kidnaps children and enlists them in the Lord’s Resistance Army, as children soldiers.

As I read through my Facebook news feed around the time the video first started circulating I remember noticing a lot of people posting the video talking about how everyone must watch it, get informed, or take action. I chose to ignore it but after a day it was overwhelming everywhere on Facebook and Twitter that I felt I had no choice but to watch. Like many others, I viewed the video and informed my roommate to do the same.

Suddenly Kony 2012 was the only thing people were discussing on these social networking sites. Some positive and supportive comments, others left comments of criticism about Invisible Children, the organization behind the video. A few statuses started saying, “I knew about Invisible Children years ago, why are people suddenly caring so much now?” The answer to the question simply lies in the power of social media.

The Visible Measures includes shares of the video, as well as video responses.

Due to the expansion and growth of social media over the last few years the organization took the opportunity to create a plan to use social media sites. The video was “liked” and tweeted, shared, tagged enough times that the message spread. Invisible Children knew the power of media and the generation of young people who are actively involved in social media. On their website they say, “We are storytellers, activists and everyday people who use the power of media to inspire young people to help end the longest running armed conflict in Africa.”

#Kony2012 was viral, as well as “Make Kony Famous.” People were posting pictures all over the internet with Kony t-shirts and logos using the hashtag. You couldn’t go anywhere on the internet without being bombarded by Kony.

Unfortunately social media can be very unforgiving as well. Once on the internet it is there permanently making its mark. Jason Russell, the co-founder of Invisible Children was arrested after he was found pounding his fist and screaming, and at one point was undressed running through traffic and screaming. Videos of his wild behavior surfaced and circulated the web, further creating criticism of the organization.

While social media can be a great use to create awareness and spread messages because many people access these sites, it can be damaging, as Russell quickly learned. The success of his mini-documentary brought his name to light and now videos of his lewd behavior will circulate the internet and social media sites for years to come, but Joseph Kony is now famous thanks to the power of social media.





By: Marissa Marinan