Kony 2012 - my musings

It has been about a week since I first watched Invisible Children’s short film 'Kony 2012' and I wish I had made time to write this post sooner. The internet is now saturated with articles and opinion pieces on the topic, many of them lengthy, so I'm going to try and keep this as short as possible.

Backgorund info

In case you have just returned from a secluded island holiday, Invisible Children Inc. are a San Diego based non-profit who have been operating (officially) since 2006. On March 5 they launched a 30 minute film as part of their awareness campaign 'Kony 2012'. Their objective is to make Joseph Kony famous and keep pressure on US policymakers to ensure his arrest in 2012.

Joseph Kony is arguably the world's worst war criminal. He is leader of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group responsible for the abduction of tens of thousands children in Uganda and bordering African nations. After being abducted these children are either forced into sex slavery or to become soldiers in Kony's army.

My musings on the matter

I discovered the Kony 2012 video, close to midnight Wednesday last week, after seeing links posted on Facebook and Twitter. Out of curiosity I clicked through and began to watch the video. Had I known initially that the video was 30 minutes in duration, I probably would have postponed viewing it until a more suitable hour, but once I had begun watching I was compelled to see it through. 

By 12:30am Thursday morning I was sold, outraged by the injustices happening in Uganda I was ready to sign the pledge, get the kit and become a social activist without doing any further research on a topic which an hour ago I knew nothing of. I find that pretty scary!

After some sleep Kony 2012 was still on my mind but I decided some additional research was required to ensure that this was not (a) an early April fools joke of types to showcase the power of social media (b) an internet scam, or (c) a self indulgent campaign, guising as charity work, to raise the profile of film maker Jason Russell. So along with 'Joseph Kony' and 'Invisible Children' I researched 'Jason Russell' and 'U.S policy' further.

While Invisible Children have received a host of criticism particularly around the allocation of funds, overstating the degree of Kony's current threat and oversimplifying the solution, the incorporation appears to be legit and inherently good. But it makes me wonder, if one video can reach close to 80 million views on YouTube in just a week and almost instantly persuade a worldwide audience to donate their time and money, how many people could just as easily fall victim to a campaign of less pure intentions?

Visible Children

Kony 2012 has also created a reluctant internet sensation, Grant Oyston, a Nova Scotian University student who is the author of the Tumblr Visible Children which critically reviews the campaign. Oyston's intended audience was 30 of his friends and classmates instead this second year student's blog has had over a million hits. Along with invitations to make tv appearances and travel to Africa, Oyston a small town unknown (until a week ago) is receiving hundreds of emails an hour. That's crazy! This kid needs to set up adsence immediately then perhaps he could drop at least one of his two part time jobs.

To end

Kony 2012 is an awareness campaign and it has undoubtedly got the world's attention. Joseph Kony is now a household name and the speed at which Invisible Children's message has spread across the world, thanks to the role social media plays in our life, is incredible.

If you haven't watched the video yet, do, it is slick, emotive and Jason Russell's son Gavin is too cute. If after researching the topic via multiple independent sources you think Kony 2012 is something you would like to support April 20 2012 is D-day for postering your town to help make Joseph Kony famous. Aucklander's check out these local Kony 2012 supporter groups on twitter or facebook.