KONY 2012: Enlightening as to the power of social media?
March 10th, 2012 • Uncategorized
I have a huge problem with this. Invisible Children attempts to make Joseph Kony famous in this 30 minute documentary which is available through Vimeo and Youtube and has been posted numerous times on Facebook.
Let’s talk about the power of social media; as well, let’s explore what is wrong with this documentary.
1. People are sheep– This Youtube video now has 74 million hits over the past week and people will argue that this has caused much awareness. Realistically though, how many people did more research than reading the blogs criticizing KONY 2012 or looking up news articles in support of the documentary? I highly doubt that it motivated numerous people to research the history of Uganda in the last 20 years or even know the general location of Uganda on a map of Africa.
I mean is KONY 2012 and different than this?
2. Just because they’re doing some good, doesn’t mean it’s all good– We are all in awe by the amount of interest this documentary has stirred and we would like to believe that it is for a good cause. However, not everyone starts a non-profit for good intentions. It is hard for me to trust founders who would take a photo like this:
This may seem trivial to some yet if the founders don’t understand the importance of good PR for a non-profit then that is a fundamental flaw in their understanding of how non-profits run. Being a fundraiser myself, I know how important it is to withhold a certain image which is in line with the organization and any PR that deviates from this image could be detrimental to the non-profit organization. These men should have been fired from their organization after this photo.
This image and the use of the KONY 2012 kits, makes me wonder what Bailey, Poole, and Russell’s intentions are. There is a fine line between doing something because it will raise great awareness and doing something for celebrityhood which can come across as gimmicky.
3.Issues with the message- If you look at this video below you will have a better understanding of why the message of KONY 2012 is misleading and how it has angered citizens of Uganda. I was interested to know that making a KONY shirt was extremely insulting. I suppose it would be like wearing a Hitler shirt in Europe.
4.North American Attitude- Finally, this form of online marketing and use of the KONY kit is a North American solution. The CEO’s of invisible child may argue that they Ugandans don’t understand these methods of promotion which will eventually solve the problem. In an interview I watched Jason Russell talks about how it is important to have a “bad guy” that everyone can relate to similarly to all the fairy tales we read as a child. He stated that by focusing on this one person it was easier to get people to support the cause. His method of publicizing Kony is a paternalistic attitude where the North Americans “know” what they’re doing and are solving the Ugandans’ problems for them. Frankly, it is insulting, even if there was good intention.
This was a really interesting read. The video was well crafted and has undoubtedly garnered the attention that the authors desired. I do agree with you that it is important not to get ‘caught up’ in the hype surrounding the Kony 2012 Campaign. Its hard for people to create their own opinions on a topic when they do not invest time into doing independent research. People do not always start non- profits for the right reason and it is important to research who these people really are, what they value and what they are really doing before following along with the masses.