Kony 2012 - a movement to help the 'Invisible Children'

Posted on 7th Mar 2012 by Scott Goodson in Blog

There’s a movement spreading across the web right now in the form of a documentary film and campaign, which hopes to raise support for the arrest of Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony.

Called Kony 2012, the film was made by ‘Invisible Children’ – a campaign group set up by filmmaker Jason Russell who focuses heavily on the issue of Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) reportedly kidnapping up to 30,000 boys and girls who are then used as soldiers and sex slaves.

After nearly 10 years of campaigning and coming close to Kony’s arrest, it seems he’s impossible to find. He knows governments are looking for him, so he’s on the run. He’s in hiding. But ultimately, no one really knows about him, or his crimes. So the group has created this film and launched a global campaign to help find him.

How they’re doing that is by making Kony a ‘household’ name. That’s right - they want to make him famous. Not to celebrate him. But to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.

And they’re using the power of social media to make it happen. That’s why Kony 2012 has been created. It’s a YouTube video campaign that tells us exactly how they plan to put a final end to Kony’s reign. And how we can all help.

They are calling on everyone from celebrities and policymakers to ordinary people like you and I to help. The aim is to cause such a buzz and create such a loud noise that Kony will be found and brought to justice.

In every city across the globe there are ‘Kony 2012’ posters on billboards, yard signs, stickers. They’re handing out wristbands. They’re talking to people who can actually make a change. They’re turning things upside down and demanding the world’s attention.

Then on 20 April 2012, there will be a huge movement across the world called ‘Cover the Night’ where people will literally put up hundreds of thousands of posters overnight, calling again for justice. So when people wake up, they won’t be able to move without running into a Kony 2012 poster or sticker.

But the ultimate power lies with social media and how millions of us can quickly and easily share the Kony 2012 campaign and gain a critical mass, a tipping point of social awareness. Like never before, we can make a change, a difference thanks to the Internet.

There’s not just the YouTube and Vimeo movies. People are spreading the message on Twitter. They’re sharing the cause on Facebook. They’re ‘pinning’ the iconic campaign poster to their Pinterest pin boards. By the end of this week, you won’t be able to open up an email, check your tweets or watch the news without seeing Kony 2012.

How do you grab the world’s attention these days? How do you bring warlords to justice? You start a movement via the web. You can bring the whole world together and inform millions of people about your cause at the click of a button. You can tap into this new global community, which is changing the system and shaping human history.

When I started watching Kony 2012 earlier this week on YouTube, there were around 150,000 views. By the time I’d finished and refreshed the page there were thousands more. And today, more than a million people have seen the video. If you haven’t heard of Kony 2012, watch the video and start spreading the movement. It’s happening right now – #Kony 2012.