Kony2012

1058 Words3 Pages

Significantly, the ideologies of Kony2012 were implemented in movies that sought to settle the issue of child soldiers and impunity among African leaders. Interestingly, the short video does not reveal any new information apart from what the world already knew about Kony’s recruitment of minors as child soldiers. It is this premise that Kony2012's supporters were accused of slacktivism because of their inability to achieve tangible results. One of the most discouraging aspects of Kony2012 was its ability to reduce the number of funds that were earmarked for Uganda and other East and Central countries. Due to Invisible Children’s overzealous business mindset, young people spend money on wristbands and other accessories, channeling money from …show more content…

Coming at a time when social media was penetrating the modern society, the response to this campaign was unbelievable, a fact and non-fiction story attributed to its strong emotional appeal. It is from this fact that the Kony2012 video received more than 100 million views after being posted on YouTube. Time magazine ranked the film as the most viral video of all time (Time, 2012), and one poll suggested that more than 50% of young American adults had heard about Kony2012 in the days following the release of the film (Pew Research Center, 2012). Moreover, the message by Invisible Children Inc. concerning the unfolding in Uganda was inclined towards the young people who dominate the social media demographics. In this regard, it is essential to note that the Kony2012 message was well structured and tailored for the young people because of their active nature and curiosity. The campaign should have focused on the senior population because of its ability to influence outcomes in present-day world. However, it targeted young people, who were convinced to participate in the campaign and asked to share the message and theme of the campaign with their family members to enable the campaign reach a wider audience using gullible individuals who failed to realize the intentions of the organizers. For this reason, organizers of the Kony2012 …show more content…

What motivates individuals is hard to define (Activism or slacktivism. N.d). Motivations are subjective: There’s also a lot of components that trigger a reaction such as sympathy, empathy, curiosity, and the emotions that the cause could potentially trigger and create a reaction. A study by finds that the peripheral players are extending the reach of social movements and social media could be used as a tool to pave the way for real action and change to take place by bringing the topic to the limelight and interest of others.(The Critical Periphery in the Growth of Social Protests. 2015) Therefore, one could not assert that individuals should entirely desist from slacktivism in the age of online activism. Although there are notable cases, such as Kony2012 that proved that activism using social media was unable to respond to issues affecting individuals in the modern world. Unlike slacktivism, activism is inclined towards accomplishing a common good in the society. For instance, when women in Saudi Arabia protested the decision by its government to deny them access to driving licenses, it only took activism through social media to attain this right. In the case of Arab Spring, the revolutionary demonstrations were achieved through social media. However, Kony2012 was a big failure in the world of activism due to networked individualism that reduced the impact of

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