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| 'Kony 2012' Poster |
Invisible
Children, a group of US activists, recently launched a campaign to assist in
the arrest of Uganda war criminal, Joseph Kony. The campaign has been promoted
through an array of social media platforms and appeals to global citizens to do
all they can to stop this warlord.
The
campaign aims to make Joseph Kony a household name. Not to celebrate his
actions but to make people aware of them. The goal is to charge Kony with crimes against humanity and
bring him to justice at the International Criminal Court. To do so, the group
encourages every one to show their support.
Invisible Children released a half-hour video on YouTube that has spread like wild fire in its three days of existence. My friend first sent me the video on Monday night when it had some 15,000 views. The next morning I returned to the video and it had almost 2,000,000 views. Today the video has over 33,000,000 views. This is a testament to the power of today’s social media and how the world can be united through a mutual understanding of the events taking place in Uganda. |
| Joseph Kony |
The
campaign has also gained momentum on Twitter. Celebrities such as Diddy, Zooey
Deschanel and Rihanna have lent their support to the cause. Millions of people
are trending about Kony on Facebook as well, with links to the video, t-shirt
designs and a variety of memes being shared.
The 'Kony 2012' campaign is a beautiful example of the power of social media. It has
become the norm for organizations and individuals to engage with one another on
different media platforms. The power of social media has been increasing
rapidly over recent years and this campaign illustrates the extent to which an
idea can be spread globally.
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