KONY 2012 and the power of propaganda in social media

I wanted to take a time-out from talking about art....

...And share something that has been circulating all over the world, and has been the topic of much discussion: the KONY 2012 campaign. Essentially, this campaign, launched by the organization Invisible Children Inc., “...aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.” In 2005, Kony was indicted as a international criminal with charges against him for crimes against humanity. For the last three decades he has been amassing an army known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in central Africa, based out of Uganda. He has been known for abducting and arming tens of thousands of children to make up a big portion of his army.

KONY 2012 is a 30-minute film done by American filmmaker Jason Russell. The central message aims to make Kony infamous, to call for international support against him, to ask supporters to contact lawmakers and megacelebrities that he calls “culture-makers” alike and insist that they use their power to increase support for the capture and arrest of Joseph Kony. Invisible Children believes that popular opinion and mass action will make a difference in the outcome of this war.

This is all very interesting, as KONY 2012 raises thoughts and questions in my mind that strangely are not related to the crisis in Uganda at all..

Russell is a genius in his filmmaking. He draws upon strong images that we identify with—for example, the birth of his son, and several video clips of him laughing, playing, and living a normal childhood in a first world country—and contrasting them against footage of the harsh realities of Ugandan children trying stay beyond the grasp of the wrath of Joseph Kony. Russell also highlights social media such as Facebook and Twitter as he bridges time and space throughout the film. For example, he uses the Timeline feature on Facebook to illustrate changes over the passage of time. Invisible Children’s call to action relies on support via sharing the video, speaking out using all forms of social media, and getting more information from their website. Donating money and getting an “action kit” full of materials and posters is mentioned almost as a complimentary action for those who really want to become more involved.

I will refrain from stating my opinion on the subject of Invisible Children’s mission, as there is some debate over it. The only thing that I will say is that some statements involved in the debate have referred to KONY 2012 as a “documentary” and I feel the need to assert that by no means should this be considered a documentary, as it is purely propaganda and there is no claim by the organization asking the viewer to believe otherwise.

What calls out most to me after viewing this film is how powerful social media is in our society. KONY 2012 attempts to build a global community united against one cause. Without social media-- hell, without the internet-- a movement of this magnitude would never be possible. Will I think this campaign will be successful? Yes, I do. I think it is already successful as I see that this video on YouTube has already received 71,242,675 views since it was posted on March 5, 2012 (I am writing this today on March 11, six days later). The bare minimum that Russell is asking us to do is simply share the message, and doing just that takes little time out of our precious day. With just one click, one person can share this video with one or one thousand other people anywhere in the world. I am sure that should I search KONY2012 on Twitter I would see thousands, or perhaps millions of related tweets. My Facebook feed has already been flooded with Kony-related posts, and I have heard it come up in conversation with friends and coworkers several times in the last 48 hours alone.  

Most human beings are sheep. It is within our nature to either lead or follow. So when someone makes such a big statement, as Russell does with the pure artistry that was put into making this short film, we find it easy to a) choose a position on the issue, and b) share it. Regardless of whether or not you think KONY 2012 is a legit or completely bogus campaign, you took the time to read the last 600 words I’ve written about it, didn’t you? You’re thinking about it now, I know you are. And if you haven’t seen the film already, I am positive that as soon as you finish reading this you’ll be clicking on the link I will provide below.

All I’m saying is: that’s powerful. 

Form your own opinion, watch KONY 2012 on Youtube below:

Props to the strategies employed in their logo and poster design, uniting Republican and Democrat insignia  (keeping in mind that 2012 is in an election year for the USA) with a dove and olive branch symbolizing peace.