Saturday, March 10, 2012

Kony 2012 Youtube Comments

I keep seeing "KONY 2012" written as a comment on Youtube videos.

It's part of a huge social media campaign that is supposed to stop Joseph Kony who, with his army, has been abducting children in Uganda and making them child soldiers.

So what exactly does writing and reading the lone text "KONY 2012" accomplish?

"Awareness" is, as it always is, the response. But what if the majority of people are already aware of what Joseph Kony has done and is probably still doing? Where is the awareness about what citizens can do, if there even is anything?

In my blog I’ve been pretty vocal about my opposition to social media slactivism campaigns for a while now. Slactivism dilutes the integrity of true awareness and exaggerates the benefits of awareness. I’m so sick of it.

I’ve also long been a critic of organizations that mainly (or only) serve interests counter productive to the causes they raise money for. Don’t get me started on “Invisible Children,” an organization that raises awareness and funds about Kony’s atrocities with film, merchandise and “social action.” This Visible Children blog post will tell you what I think.

1 comment:

  1. Yep I found a video on YouTube that was a response to the Kony video and it went into details about the Invisible Children organization. They are not what they appear to be! I wish I had saved the link, but I bet you could find the video. It was interesting.

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