Two weeks ago, the Kony 2012
campaign became a viral sensation around the globe, really capitalising on what
the video itself describes as a unique moment in human history, through
galvanising its audience to share the short film through Facebook and Twitter.
Overnight, news feeds became
awash with a youth army ready to take up virtual arms against a Ugandan war
lord that the overwhelming majority had never heard of but 24 hours previous.
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| Posters for the campaign: http://yinnyang.co.uk/2012/03/kony-2012/kony-2012/ |
With the exponential growth in
online activism that followed, all aspects of Joseph Kony, the LRA, Uganda and
Invisible Children were suddenly subjects of furious debate between the social
networking community; questions of the charity’s integrity came to light,
alongside other information that made the bewitching film appear all too
simplistic and ensnaring.
I was surprised, when raising the
subject with my parents, to find that neither of them had the faintest
inclination of the events in motion. Considering this point, I quickly realised
that the movement had generated little interest beyond the online domain.
Newspapers and news channels proffered minimal to non-existent coverage of the campaign
in question. Chat programmes and daytime television barely brushed upon the
issue.
Then it occurred to me that the
unusual beauty of the Kony campaign was that it had incited to action young
people, young adults, just as Joseph Kony himself has plucked children from
their homes.
Awakening these youths to new
ideas, the movement seemingly managed to take a hold of the logic of the 13-25
age population of Facebook. These users account for approximately half of all subscribers to the service and are the generation that effortlessly pivot and
gravitate around ideas through peer sharing.
Revolutions worldwide this past
year have been driven by young, incensed persons ready to create change; from
Egypt, to Syria, from protests against University tuition fees, to London
riots.
Within the first couple of
minutes of the video, director Jason Russell describes this particular campaign
as an ‘experiment’. Over and above the sheer number of ‘friends’ who had shared
the video, this single statement made me wary of the film’s intentions. Instead
of watching the following thirty minutes of footage with disbelief, I held this
phrase in mind and scrutinised the methods by which the video moves to incite
the emotions and lay the foundations for a mass, united uprising.
Essentially, all those who share
the video prove that the correct application of social media can provide the
leverage and manipulation required to garner the support of an entire
cross-section of society.
However, the recent riots and
violent unrest around the globe are the product of anger provoked by those
whose voices that have gone unheard. The under-25 group remain largely outside
of Western democracy decisions. They are not high ranking figures, not
barristers, bankers, or law-makers at Westminster. For that reason, the video
itself targets these types of influential peoples.
Yet, this creates a discord and
disjunction between practice and plight. Whilst the objective to overthrow a
fierce dictator (with numerous crimes against humanity to his name) is a fine
goal, the dependence on the co-operation of these different groups is flawed.
The film itself highlights the
difficulties in acquiring support of the American government and the cover the
night campaign is further testament to the continued troubles of retaining that
backing. Without the constant aid from these people in power, there can be no
dedicated search for Kony.
Yet, many youngsters sharing the
video appeared oblivious to this fact. They spread the film in order to feel as
though they had contributed to the downfall of a dictator, without much
physical campaign following.
Writing a fortnight after the
initial onslaught of Kony challengers, it is difficult to see what this first
stage of the campaign has achieved outside of the blogosphere of social
websites. Already, the presence of the Kony 2012 activism is fading just as
dramatically as it inundated accounts at the start of March.
Youngsters, eager but
inexperienced in politics, feel that their work in the process has been
achieved. The elder enfranchised, still counting for 50% of Facebook
users and a far higher percentage of voters, remain oblivious to the fighting efforts
of their online compatriots.
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| Supporters of Invisible Children, largely youngsters, sleeping outside in Portland in 2006 to symbolise the situation of children in Uganda, who gather in large groups at night to avoid the Lord's Resistance Army. Jon Madrigal: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dr_love/137744885/ |
Certainly, the ‘Cover the Night’
movement on 20th April could reverse this decline, and make Kony a
public figure, but it depends on the continued support of a virtual world of
campaigners. After all, Invisible Children Inc has released a campaign video on
similar topical issues for almost a decade now and this is the first time that
any of their films has received widespread recognition. Simply hitting the
‘share’ or ‘retweet’ buttons has rocketed the programme to ‘en vogue’ status
amongst young adults, but this youth demographic continues to be one of the
most volatile and shifting segments of society. Unless this group of people
remain behind the Kony ideal, the whole project will collapse as a result of
teenage passivity and apathy. Without spreading the idea to elder generations,
there is serious threat of the cause falling-in on itself through lack of
diverse support.
Twitter stands as the possible
frontier by which to make or break the project. The age range with the most
active users is the 35-44 group, with 25-34 year olds not too far behind.
Together, these users make up 55% of the Twitter population. Whilst this
certainly promotes Twitter as the domain to reach respectable, middle-class
people, the most frequent users still fall in the under 24 age range.
Even with the support of some
elder public figures, the active Kony demographic remains predominantly under
the age of 25. Cover the Night may act to sway other social groups; however, it
is likely that whilst the posters will generate some interest and attention,
the middle-class workers with money may view the campaign as ‘fly-posting’, and
look at the mass posters as graffiti, as defacing their town and city. With
busy lives, jobs and commitments, it may take much stronger, persistent action
to convince and coerce the over 25s into support. Struggling to find a way to
get these people involved is a crucial stumbling block.
“Nothing is more powerful than an
idea whose time has come” opens the short film, but the idea of Kony, the
experiment of Kony, already appears to have had its time. Whilst the video has
received over 80 million hits globally at the time of writing, its Youtube
statistics stand to reiterate that it is ‘most popular with 13-24 year olds’. In
the past week, viewing of the video has comparatively ground to a halt.
The campaign is experimental
because, whilst it begins as a viral, it needs to continue to manifest itself
to generate a presence in the real world. The use of social media to incite
revolution is not experimental so much as a proven tool for change, following
Egyptian action last year. The real experiment is keeping these Western
youngsters, who have never had to fight for democracy, interested and involved.
On 21st April, still a
month away, the experiment will either ultimately fail or succeed in making
Kony famous by culminating in ‘Cover the Night’. However, with four weeks for
support to dwindle, it is concerning that “an idea whose time has come” is
being put on hold for so long.
After all, you cannot overthrow a
Ugandan dictator by simply sharing a video…
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