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Although there is no blog post due for this week, I wanted to bring attention to something that has a direct connection to what we are learning in ALES 204. As most of you have probably seen, the Kony 2012 campaign has blown up over all forms of social media. This post is not meant to promote or defame the campaign; my sole intention is to mention how social media has been used in such an extraordinary way.
For those of you who don't know, the Kony 2012 campaign's mission is to make everyone aware of Joseph Kony - a Ugandan warlord and leader of the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army). Invisible children, the organization who created this campaign, wanted the mass population to support their cause so that the US will continue to keep troops in Uganda and help their government capture Joseph Kony. Despite your position on the organization and their cause, there's one thing that is difficult to refute: the large scale use of social media to connect the youth and raise awareness.
A few weeks ago I'm sure most people my age were not aware of Kony or the organization Invisible Children. However, through Facebook and Twitter, the campaign's video was broadcast worldwide and shared numerous times. This was the intent of Invisible Children. They wanted to connect with the youth of the world and social media was the best platform for them to do this. This is exactly what we're learning in ALES 204. We have used social media for many purposes and we have discussed the scale at which information can be shared. We have also discussed how fast information can be shared. Whether it's sharing your research about a new virus strain or raising awareness of a Ugandan warlord, social media provides an extremely efficient vehicle to reach mass audiences.
My friend Brenda makes a very good point in her blog. She mentions that Twitter enables people to share their passions worldwide. This is exactly what the Invisible Children organization intended to do. Brenda also mentions how hashtags are a great way to group information. Perhaps someone watched the Kony 2012 video and wanted to see what more people were saying about the cause. They could search #Kony2012, #InvisibleChildren or #JosephKony and see much more information to become more informed. I think the use of social media in this campaign was well thought out and very successful. I have added the video here, however before you decide to donate I highly encourage you to look into the cause more and educate yourself!
Photo References:
1. Kony 2012 Poster [Digital Image]. 2012. Retrieved on March 19, 2012, from http://www.sabotagetimes.com/life/kony-2012-why-im-opposed-to-the-campaign/
Wow Steph that was a very insightful look into how powerful social networking greatly affects how we promote awareness all around the world! I believe that the Kony2012 campaign was very resourceful when utilizing websites like Twitter and Facebook to spread the word across the world. Like we mentioned in ALES204, Twitter has really deviated from its original plan to a place where people can come together and share their passions about a certain issue, just like you mentioned in your blog post!
ReplyDelete-Danielle Lu
I am glad a came across your blog, I agree completely with your post. Social media is the direction our world is taking. It is instant, compared to newspapers, in getting information out to the masses. Especially for our generation, we don't read newspapers and don't go take out history books from the library to learn about an event, we Google it. In my opinion this is dangerous, people can become mislead with information online, what is reliable and what is not can be confusing. I also think it is a great tool to get information across to youth. The Kony 2012 received so much attention, good and bad. But attention non the less.
ReplyDeleteIt truly is amazing how fast the word of Kony 2012 spread. This is a very good example of how power social media, particularly FaceBook and Twitter can be. If an idea catches on and becomes popular it can easily be spread to millions of people. I do agree that consumers must be aware. You can't simply trust what you read/see on FaceBook, Twitter, or other websites. It's important to research the information and find the facts before you form your opinion.
ReplyDeleteWow very true, I had no idea of what or who Kony was until one day on Facebook it was everywhere! My friends were sending me multiple requests to join Kony 2012 groups which was crazy since surely they had only found out who Kony was as well. Social media is so worldwide spread and it is definately becoming the means of "spreading the word" so to speek!!!
ReplyDeleteWe indeed cannot refute the influence of social media on our generation as well as future generations. Kony 2012 is a prime example of this, unfortunately it is also an example of the failure of social media. Media in its truest form is advertising. Whether you are advertising a product or a point of view, the ultimate goal is to get people to watch. To me Kony 2012 represents what is wrong with a society that bases it collective knowledge on what is advertised to them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for inspiring some critical thought on my boring afternoon, and sorry for my mini rant!
Kelsey Trites.
I think the Kony 2012 campaign is a great example of how we can use resources that are readily available to us and make a change! Although I am sure there is another side of the story and that many people have counterarguments to this campaign, we cannot deny the tremendous reach of this one video. Just like in class we learned of ways to use social media to advertise, i.e. the Diesel Jeans campaign, we can use the same means to spread a message to every corner of the world. Now, we can make videos of good thoughts and a changing world viral, instead of the regular spoofs about celebrities.
ReplyDeleteJasveer Brar
The Kony 2012 campaign shows us how fast a story can spread right across the world and people hop on a cause wagon. Twitter and facebook are showing how they can be used as tools to alert the world in quick time on an issue nobody hear of. Now its up to the own individual person opinion if it was better to deal with Kony quitely or if indeed alerting the whole world on this issue.
ReplyDeleteLucas Poitras