Media and The Kony 2012 Movement in Uganda

1227 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The impact of social media on social movement

As Plato once said, “Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance”. From talk radio to television shows, from popular magazines to Web blogs, ordinary citizens, political figures, and entertainers express their opinions on a variety of topics. These technological advances and social media allows us to foster and explore our democratic right under the First Amendment (freedom of speech) to publicly discuss issues and offer opinions from different perspectives. As everyone’s opinion will differ from the next person, having a wide range of opinions can indirectly educate those who do not know anything about the topic and inspire them to research further into that topic. As part of a generation that is becoming heavily dependent on technology and social media, it is also an effective way to spread awareness about issues and topics. In 2012, a video titled Kony 2012 was uploaded by an organization called Invisible Children, and gained millions of views within hours of it being uploaded. The purpose of the video was to spread awareness on the Lord’s Resistance Movement (LRA) in Uganda and its leader, Joseph Kony. "For 26 years, Kony has been kidnapping children into his rebel group, the LRA. Turning the girls into sex slaves and the boys into child soldiers. He makes them mutilate people's faces. And he forces them to kill their own parents. And this is not just a few children. It's been over 30,000 of them" (Invisible Children). Due to its phenomenal success and millions of views each day and shared throughout various sources of social media such as Twitter and Facebook, many teenagers became aware of the video and were inspired to take of the action thus becoming part of the Kony 2012 movement. With the use of social media,... ... middle of paper ... ... 2012 campaign gets support of Obama, others." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2012. Web. 18 May 2014. of-obama-others/2012/03/08/gIQArnHkzR_blog.html>. Invisible Children. "KONY 2012." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 5 Mar. 2012. Web. 18 May 2014. Lee, Traci G. "Wendy Davis' epic effort to block rollback of the right to choose in Texas."msnbc. NBC News Digital, 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 19 May 2014. . Schomerus, Markeike , Tim Allen, and Koen Vlassenroot. "Obama Takes on the LRA." Foreign Affairs. Council on Foreign Relations, 15 Nov. 2011. Web. 18 May 2014. vlassenroot/obama-takes-on-the-lra?page=show>.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Jonathan Franzen's 'Liking Is For Cowards'

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    In my opinion, social media is a way to bring the world closer and an assertion of consumer choice can be used for promoting issues that matter. A human rights activist can make an unknown story reach hundreds of thousands of people by the ‘simple click of a button’.

    Read More

  • Preventing Police Brutality And The Police

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    Because the justice system isn’t always in favor of the innocent, people have started to stand up for their rights. Whether it is by protesting or even showing their support on social media, this nation’s youth is standing up to these injustices and demanding their rights back. They are a community standing together against injustice. Social media has paved a way that allows today’s youth to connect and collaborate in order to achieve this. They come together through art, music, literature, protests, etc. to illustrate their support. Social media allows the entire world to see what is really happening. Instead of being fed information by the media, they are able to hear and listen to the people who have been silenced. They are able to share experiences with one another, which results in the community available today

    Read More

  • Genocide and the Propaganda Media

    1460 Words  | 3 Pages

    To many Americans, the feeling of being a bystander as countries slaughter their own people has been in legal debate since 1933, it has gradually developed into a concept that can be applied in many situations, both historical and contemporary. The meaning of the phrase genocide is the cleansing of a race or ethnicity in a country. There has been evidence that this phrase can be used to describe past and present day massacres being committed around the world and how media has changed its perception on this issue overtime.

    Read More

  • The Texas Anti-Abortion Law is Unconstitutional

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Texas anti-abortion law has taken the country’s attention by storm. It is an issue on many different woman’s minds, especially those who live in the state of Texas. The new laws are forcing many woman to have to cross state lines in order to receive an abortion and medical care. This includes woman who needs abortions due to preexisting medical conditions and those who are carrying fetuses which are diseased and are expected not to be born as healthy babies. The Texas Governor Rick Perry and Senator Ted Cruz are leading the fight for the abortion laws to become permanent, laws that are considered the strictest abortion laws that this country has ever seen.

    Read More

  • Child Soldiers and Suicide Bombers: The Brave and Courageous

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Child Soldiers." BBC World Service. BBC World Watch, 12 Jun 2006. Web. 18 Nov 2013. .

    Read More

  • The Film Kony 2012 and Invisible Children

    3113 Words  | 7 Pages

    Kony 2012 was a film produced Invisible Children which went viral overnight. The video gained 31 million views in a single day and since has gathered almost over 99 million view on YouTube. The campaign was a 30-minute video made by filmmaker and Invisible Children co-founder Jason Russell can be considered a political documentary by traditional standards. The political documentary intended to persuade bystander viewers to hold certain beliefs about Kony, a leader of the rebel militia group the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda. Viewers were asked to act immediately to raise awareness through social media, local campaigns and political advocacy to capture the rebel leader who kidnapped children. While the film raised a significant amount of money, it has been accused of engaging in “slaktivism” in which one takes action, which has little effect beyond making one feel like they have contributed.

    Read More

  • The Impact of Social Media in the Arab Spring Uprisings

    2022 Words  | 5 Pages

    While many people throughout the world see social media as a trendy new application in the service of personal amusement, the political upheavals in the Arab world have shown how it can change the dynamics of modern day activism. The Arab Spring Uprising interlaced social unrest with a technological revolution. Blogs, news websites, twitter feeds, and political list servers became avenues for communication, information flow and solidarity. Being capable of sharing an immense amount of uncensored information through social media sites has contributed to the success of many Arab Spring activists. Social media played a role in facilitating the events of the Arab Spring, but the main issues are rooted in a broader set of economic, political, and social factors. This paper will examine how social media impacted the Arab Spring Uprising. Specifically, I will look at how social media introduced a novel resource that helped to created internet activist communities, changed the dynamics of social mobilization and revolutionized interactions between protesters and the rest of the world.

    Read More

  • Abolitionist Movement During The Antebellum Era

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    An opinion can bring about shockwaves throughout the entire world by providing a variety of intriguing and thought provoking concepts. Opinions can range from current events, entertainment, and politics just to name a few examples which all have a profound effect on society as a whole. Now more than ever, the spreading of opinions has increased to a higher degree largely thanks to the easier accessibility of the Internet. Often times people question whether or not the concept of sharing opinions serves as a worthwhile experience to people, believing that they simply can not provide any kind of insightful or thought-provoking discussion. However for these people to question the legitimacy of opinions serves to undermine the invaluable effects

    Read More

  • Social Media And Stereotyping In The Media

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many turn to social or media throughout their day to gain insight on activities and event that is going on in the world. The media does not have to report the truth so individuals may gain untruthful information and a cloudy perception. Individuals tend to turn to the media to gain an opinion about someone or something.

    Read More

  • How is technology affecting the younger generations' perceptions of morality and the world?

    1406 Words  | 3 Pages

    The advent of the internet signaled a revolutionary shift for society, in which participation in massive amounts of information was easily and rapidly accessible to any connected country. This digital revolution gave rise to monolithic digital communities that dominate the web and strongly influence the globe; Twitter helped Belarusian youth organize flash-protests against their authoritarian government in 2006, while Wikileaks continues to serve as a public international clearing-house for whistle-blowers. But despite these resounding stories of success, concern is spreading that there is an underlying problem with our digitally enhanced society – especially in the western world. Widespread debate has been sparked by the digital revolution over modern technology's influence on younger generations, with experts combating each other over whether the internet is dulling or expanding young minds. This debate is not restricted to education, but extends to cover issues of morality and perspectives. Education issues are tied to lacking cultural awareness and political activism, but world-views are a separate and altogether more severe problem for the next generation. As the internet becomes more embedded in our lives, youth are retreating into the isolation of private social bubbles and turning reality into a remote abstract concept. Apathetic, amoral and disconnected youth in the western world are spreading to replace the active socially charged older generations.

    Read More

  • Could The Internet Be The Public Sphere

    1792 Words  | 4 Pages

    From the variety of hot topics that are covered by news, we can see that influence of the public opinion from the Internet cannot not be underestimated, but the scholars have a different view against ‘Could the Internet be the public sphere’. In this essay, commenting function in Yahoo News articles will be used to evaluate its performance of opinions expressions with Habermas’ normative standard for public sphere, and to discuss the limitation of Habermas’ deliberative approach of the public sphere within the Internet.

    Read More

  • Facebook: The Pros And Cons Of Social Media

    1551 Words  | 4 Pages

    Over the past few years, social media has grown rapidly and gained the attention of individuals across the world. What exactly is social media? Basically, social media is a form of electronic communication that allows individuals to communicate with each other, create social profiles, and even share their perception on music and photos. Surprisingly, social media has caused some countries to produce boycotts and other types of rebellions. More than fifty percent of people learn about breaking news through social media. Recent statistics show ninety percent of adults in the United States own a cell phone (King 2015). Eighty-seven percent of those adults use the web, and sixty-eight percent of those adults connect to the web with their

    Read More

  • Technology In Social Work

    1307 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is through the implementation of advocacy strategies through technology integration that have allowed practice to evolve. According to Edwards and Hoefer (2010), communication technology that allows real-time updates and expansive reach include social networking sites, online journals or blogs, and video sharing technology, like YouTube. Social networking sites are online communities that built on social interactions and relationships. In these environments there are opportunities to share ideas that can lead to large scale changes. Similarly, online journals or blogs present idea sharing for those subscribing or interested in the topic selections. Video sharing adds a facet of sharing information that can complement or strengthen a perspective. According to Tetloff, Hitchcock, Battista, and Lowry (2014), videos can encourage partnership, engage a community, and inspire thinking that is not sculpted by a preconceived notion or faculty of negative influence. The use of these technologies provide a social media venue to share messages and connect people to advocate for change and ultimately affect how and what policies are adopted for local and large scale

    Read More

  • Public Opinion Meets the Internet

    1030 Words  | 3 Pages

    Internet has been acknowledged as one of the most efficient way to collect and reflect public opinions, for that people with different classes and races can express their opinions with no obstacles in virtual network spaces. People can speak out whatever they want just by typing on the keyboard within a second. Dr. Heather Savigny mentions in her article “Public Opinion, Political Communication and the Internet” that “The expansion of the internet as a new method of communication provides a potential challenge to the primacy of the traditional media and political parties as formers of public opinion” (1). People realized that the power of internet public opinion in the focus on social issues can be used as a weapon to affect government decision-makings. However, does public opinion only brings positive effects?

    Read More

  • Disadvantages Of Social Media Essay

    1390 Words  | 3 Pages

    For example, many revolutions started on face book and it changed the lives of many people in many countries some to better and others to worse. Unfortunately the horror nature of these events have been documented on the internet, which means when children view these videos they is how life supposed to be.

    Read More

More about Media and The Kony 2012 Movement in Uganda

Open Document