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THE WORLD’S
SOAPBOX PREVIEW Social media tools such as Facebook can send a loud call to millions of people to take up a worthy cause, such as saving African children from being exploited and killed as child soldiers, but not everyone will take action. Yet, it will certainly get their attention. WORDS Jarna Baudinette
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n early March, a non-profit organisation called Invisible Children (IC) decided to make a man famous. Traditionally, becoming famous required considerable talent and drive and was reserved for actors, musicians and sports people who managed to charm their way into the spotlight. In contrast, IC’s marketing strategy suggests all it takes to become famous in 2012 is a YouTube video and a generation primed to ‘like’. On March 5, a 29-minute film titled Kony2012 hit the web and within days it was the fastest trending viral video in history, reaching a staggering 100 million views before the month was up. What began as a few viewers sharing the video quickly grew to a global phenomenon. Facebook users around the world watched the plight of child soldiers in central Africa, were outraged and passed the video on to their friends. Likewise, those who hadn’t seen it posted confused status updates asking why “this Kony guy” was cluttering up their news feed. The video was also emailed and Tweeted and had tens of millions of people calling for action and justice with the easy click of a mouse. The viral popularity of Kony2012 has offered an interesting look at social media and its role in promoting activism. The video opens with IC co-founder Jason Russell telling the viewer that “right now there are more people on Facebook than there were on the planet 200 years ago”. There are also more people on Facebook than anyone could have predicted when the site was launched in early 2004 – globally, more than 40 per cent of people with internet access have a Facebook profile and more than 483 million people use the site daily.
This makes Facebook a powerful way to share information. Many have also heralded it as the saviour of social activism. Long considered selfish and widely apathetic, generation Y is using Facebook and Twitter to support social causes and organise protests and demonstrations. With this in mind, IC was trying to use social media to make Joseph Kony a household name to increase the chances of his capture. After a few days it seemed the first part of the plan had worked. Joseph Kony, the Ugandan warlord responsible for the recruitment and deaths of thousands of child soldiers, was one of the world’s most widely talked about men. But so were IC’s founders, who were accused of factual inaccuracy, supporting the equally violent Ugandan military, not really knowing what they were talking about and, worst of all, of exploiting the plight of tortured kids for their own financial gain. On March 15, Russell had a very public breakdown and was admitted to hospital after running naked and screaming through his San Diego neighbourhood. Rather than a wave of humanitarian action, Kony2012 provoked endless argument about the effectiveness of social media and the Facebook generation. While many applauded IC’s efforts, plenty of journalists, aid workers and political experts came forward saying Kony2012 was just oversimplifying a complicated, decades-long political struggle into a half-hour Facebook grab. Millions of people watching a video does nothing to improve the plight of child soldiers and it won’t change the world, they argued. IC had managed to get our attention – on a much larger scale than had previously been thought possible – but what good had it really achieved?
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