By snoadmin
Last week, social networking sites blew up with status updates, tweets and reblogs all saying the same thing – “Make Kony Famous.” The Kony 2012 movement came out of nowhere and quickly dominated Facebook newsfeeds and Twitter’s trending topics. Everyone was talking about the 30-minute video that centered on a Ugandan warlord who kidnaps children and forces them to become child soldiers and sex slaves. Invisible Children, a charity organization dedicated to raising awareness of Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army, produced the video.
Invisible Children was established in 2005 and has steadily worked toward raising awareness of the plight in central Africa. Up until releasing the Kony video, Invisible Children had not received such worldwide press. The efforts to end the LRA are admirable, but people need to remember that updating a Facebook status is not enough to bring an end to the atrocities Kony has committed.
Invisible Children is a great organization when it comes to raising awareness. They use the donations they receive to fund more videos and merchandise and their web site is full of information on Kony and the LRA’s actions today, but we should not expect them to do anything more than that.
Since, the release of the Kony video, there has been a lot of backlash against Invisible Children, saying the organization does nothing to actually bring an end to the LRA. People who want to donate to Invisible Children should keep that in mind. It would be foolish to expect a charity group from San Diego to put an end to something that has been going on for years, though. Kony has failed to sign peace agreements in the past; a non-profit is not going to change that.
Still, it is good that people are jumping on the Kony bandwagon. Raising awareness about issues that you are passionate about is never a bad thing. The only question is: How many of us are actually passionate about this issue?
This generation often falls prey to the trappings of the digital age. It is so easy for us to see something online and spread it instantly throughout our network of friends, especially with the advent of social networking sites. But, because things catch on so quickly, they just as quickly burn out. We have seen our share of Internet memes come and go in just a matter of days. Who is to say that Kony is not just the latest in that long line of forgotten internet fads?
Hopefully, the Kony 2012 campaign can bring about positive change, but it will take a lot more than changing your Facebook status or tweeting about it. Bringing real change is much harder than watching something on YouTube, even if it is 30 minutes long.
Donating money to Invisible Children is a good way to help them raise awareness of the situation, but that is all they can and will do.
The LRA left Uganda in 2006, but they are still active in other parts of Africa. They will not be going away any time soon no matter how famous we make Joseph Kony. If you really want to help change the world, you are going to have to prepare for a lot more than watching a video and posting a status.
