March 9, 2012
Busy with my daily life the last couple of days, only today did I learn about the viral campaign KONY 2012. Despite the criticisms leveled at the video and the nonprofit “Invisible Children” since it was released, this video has obviously had a wide-ranging impact. It’s hard to argue with the goal of the protection of exploited children from a terrible villain. Some have claimed that the video is somewhat factually misleading, in part because Kony’s group has already moved out of Uganda while the goal appears to be to support the Ugandan government in hunting down and arresting Kony. Additionally, people view the Ugandan government itself as corrupt and guilty of exploitative practices; thus they see the move for the U.S. to give them support as problematic. The nonprofit “Invisible Children” has also been accused of problematic practices with respect to its fund allocation. What I find moving at first glance, however, is the apparent positive intention behind the creation of the video and the impressive marketing techniques used by the “Invisible Children” organization. Uploaded only 4 days ago, it has already been viewed over 58 million times on YouTube.
In the event you have not yet seen it, here is the link to the video: KONY 2012