{"id":613,"date":"2021-11-26T21:10:20","date_gmt":"2021-11-27T02:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/extraocadsmhr\/?post_type=chapter&p=613"},"modified":"2022-02-14T19:33:23","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T00:33:23","slug":"viral-video-gone-bad-kony-2012-and-the-perils-of-social-media-short-supplementary-article","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/extraocadsmhr\/chapter\/viral-video-gone-bad-kony-2012-and-the-perils-of-social-media-short-supplementary-article\/","title":{"raw":"4a. \"Viral video, gone bad: Kony 2012 and the perils of social media\" (Short news article)","rendered":"4a. “Viral video, gone bad: Kony 2012 and the perils of social media” (Short news article)"},"content":{"raw":"

Introduction to the article \"Viral video, gone bad: Kony 2012 and the perils of social media<\/a><\/span>\"<\/h1>\r\nConflicts have multiple sides\u00a0 There are normally reasonable arguments to both support, and protest against, a complex issue.\r\n\r\nDue to the number of people it empowers, social media has a tendency to make public issues take strange and circuitous paths.\r\n\r\nIn his article, \"Viral video, gone bad: Kony 2012 and the perils of social media,\" author David Glance discusses the often oppositional ways that social media can treat whatever it is focusing on. In this article, Glance discusses the fight against Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord\u2019s Resistance Army guerilla group.\r\n\r\nAlthough the Kony controversy occurred back in 2012, social media's influence on public issues is extremely relevant both today and tomorrow.\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n

Viral video, gone bad: Kony 2012 and the perils of social media<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\r\n
\r\n
\r\n\r\nDavid Glance, The Conversation<\/em>, March 19, 2012 3:12pm EDT\r\n\r\nThere have been enough social media disasters of late to make one thing clear: manipulating sentiment through social networks is next to impossible.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe McDonald\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>#McDStories campaign<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in January was supposed to allow the public to share fond memories of eating at McDonald\u2019s. Instead, responses quickly became abusive and negative.<\/span>\r\n\r\nQantas famously made the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>same mistake<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>with their ill-fated #QantasLuxury campaign in November of last year.<\/span>\r\n\r\nAt first glance, the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Kony 2012<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>film seemed an undeniable<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>social media success<\/a><\/span>. Purporting to raise awareness about the use of children in the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Lord\u2019s Resistance Army<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>guerilla group, the film agitated for the hunting-down and arrest of the group\u2019s leader, Joseph Kony.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe film and its director, Jason Russell, were blatant in their intention to use social media to propel the campaign.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Analysis<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>of Twitter and YouTube traffic showed how<\/span>\u00a0Invisible Children<\/a><\/span>, the charity behind the Kony 2012 video, used its existing social networks to initiate and drive the viral growth of attention to the video.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe obsession of media and marketing with \u201cvirality\u201d is something Arianna Huffington \u2013 co-founder of the Huffington Post \u2013 has<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>commented on<\/a><\/span>. While not mentioning the Kony video explicitly, Huffington suggested that when something attains \u201cviral\u201d status, this can signify a positive or negative outcome. But more often than not, it signifies both.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThis is exactly what happened in the case of the Kony 2012 video.<\/span>\r\n\r\nFor every<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>celebrity that endorsed the film<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>there seemed to be someone<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>publishing criticism<\/a><\/span>. These criticisms have been unpacked<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>elsewhere<\/a><\/span>, including on<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The Conversation<\/a><\/span>.<\/span>\r\n\r\nCriticism of the campaign would have been alright but the campaign did as much to turn the spotlight on Invisible Children as it did on the problem of the children in Uganda. The charity and director were forced to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>defend<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>not only the film but their operations and past record.<\/span>\r\n\r\nMost damning of all were the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>criticisms of Invisible Children being made by Ugandans<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and by former \u201cinvisible children\u201d themselves.<\/span>\r\n\r\nKony 2012<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>bracelets<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>T-shirts<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>became the signifiers of a US Christian organisation that didn\u2019t even have the support of the people they were allegedly trying to help. Ugandan Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi even created<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>his own video<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to refute allegations made in the Kony 2012 video.<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn the video Mbabazi invited the celebrities who promoted the Kony 2012 video \u2013 including Rihanna, Bill Gates and Kim Kardashian \u2013 to come to Uganda and see the situation for themselves.<\/span>\r\n\r\nAll of this would have been bad enough \u2026 but it got worse.<\/span>\r\n\r\nLate last week Kony 2012 director Jason Russell<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>was arrested<\/a>\u00a0i<\/span>n San Diego after police received reports of a man running through the streets and traffic naked, vandalising cars and \u201cmasturbating\u201d.<\/span>\r\n\r\nInvisible Children CEO Ben Keesey issued<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>a statement<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>claiming Russell had been admitted to hospital suffering from exhaustion, dehydration and malnutrition. Unfortunately,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>a video<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>has been released seemingly showing Russell in the midst of a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>psychotic episode<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>of some sort.<\/span>\r\n\r\nAlthough there have been<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>statements of compassion<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>about Russell\u2019s condition, members of the twittersphere have not been as kind. A new hashtag, #Horny2012, was created with tweets ridiculing him, Invisible Children and the film.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe tragedy of all this is what started out as a probably well-intentioned plan has ended with:<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n