A young Ugandan boy sits in the dark, describing the death of his brother, who tried to escape from a rebel group operating in that nation. The boy fears for his life, after watching his brother’s throat slit, and says he would prefer to be killed than be abducted by the rebel regime.
This was social media’s version of the “shot heard ‘round the world.” Invisible Children, a U.S.-based not-for-profit organization, spread their Kony 2012 project and video across Facebook.
It outraged, upset, and shocked viewers, who “Liked” and shared the video at a rate never before seen. Within less than a week, the video had received over 80 million views.
The focus was Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a militant group based in Uganda. It discussed Kony’s numerous human rights violations, especially focusing in on the LRA’s use of child soldiers. It ran with the tagline, “Make Kony famous,” a call to make the arrest and capture of Kony a priority of Western governments.
It showed images of the director’s son learning about Kony, and shows them in comparison with Jacob, the Ugandan boy who was terrorized by the leader. It sparked outrage in the hearts of those who watched it.
The video went viral. But, the reality is the movement ran much deeper than that.
As some users across the globe simply watched and spread the video, millions joined in on the sentiment of making Kony famous. University campuses across Canada and the United States set dates for public screenings of the film, while April 20 was declared a day of action for supporters promote the cause publicly in cities across North America.
It seemed a textbook example of clicktivism: the idea of taking social activism online. Kony revealed the ways individuals and organizations harness the power of social media to get increasingly apathetic young people involved in a social movement.
But, in the days and weeks that followed, criticisms of Kony 2012 became the real story. Suspicions of Invisible Children, the facts presented in the video, and co-founder and director Jason Russell quickly overshadowed the original message of the film.
At the forefront, along with the criticisms, was the debate around the actual, practical advantage in using Facebook and other social media platforms. Many media critics questioned how involved and engaged Facebook users who shared the video were. To some degree, the video became a farce.
For example, the Peak newspaper at Simon Fraser University ran a satirical piece that claimed anyone who shared the video on Facebook would receive an honorary degree from the school’s International Studies faculty.
Meanwhile, users of the popular social news site reddit posted maps of Africa, and asked Kony supporters to point out the location of Uganda.
The anti-Kony campaign ignited a debate about the role clicktivism plays in engaging young people in social change: is it activism, or simply slacktivism?
Kyle Brown 