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The Rise & Fall of Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 Movement

Staples students lose interest quickly. In a generation where teenagers’ attention spans seem to be decreasing, Staples students, at one time inclined to jump on the “Kony 2012” bandwagon, have already lost interest in this national issue.

The views on Invisible Children’s KONY 2012 YouTube video grew exponentially. On the first day it was posted, Feb. 20, it had three views. On March 5, 58,000. March 7 was its peak, with 8.2 million. But these views went down as rapidly as up. By March 19, there were only 42,800.

The same trend was exhibited by the number of notifications in the KONY 2012 Westport Facebook group. On March 6, when it was created, notifications reached 69 posts and comments, not including hundreds of likes.

When the video first went viral and students began reposting it on their walls, Siri Andrews ’13 created a Facebook group in hopes of spreading awareness and organizing groups to take action. The group quickly gained over 1,000 members.

The first few posts were sympathetic to the cause. Students posted pictures that read “Kony 2012: Stop at nothing,” encouraging supporters to set them as their Cover Photos. Others urged students to visit the Invisible Children website and purchase “Action Kits,” which contain posters, bracelets, and other items to financially support the cause. Even past students wrote in the group, saying things like, “Get amped on something that could go down in history.”

However, quickly, those who disagreed with the campaign began refuting previous posts. Some members simply stated their opinions, while others wrote comments intended to mock the situation.

Andrews was forced to delete posts/comments that were disrespectful or offensive and even delete offenders from the group. After these posts were deleted, there were posts discouraging these kinds of remarks. One girl wrote, “You are all becoming extremely annoying with all this fighting, this isn’t a debate group its a support group, if you don’t support it make your own ‘I hate the KONY initiative group.’

Andrews was upset by these comments. “I felt some posts became about people trying to sound right rather than make a valid point about the cause. Others, like jokes, were irritating because conflicts should not be joked about in order to see who can receive the most likes on a post or comment,” said Andrews.

However, some people had valid oppositions to the KONY campaign and questions about the video and Invisible Children as an organization.

“I feel that students have been manipulated by a well-produced video. They are basing their support off a 30-minute video, that is outdated and false. Though I commend those who organized the Facebook group and supported the movement, I feel that many jumped on the ‘Kony Bandwagon,’” said Rusty Schindler ‘13.

Another student expressed political concern. He wrote, “Vietnam also began with innocent American military advisors going to a country and region we didn’t really understand. Or look at Iraq: we wanted to depose a dictator, we got a war… yeah, touching video and all but there are potential consequences to things we do, even though they may be well-intended.”

As quickly as the number of group members skyrocketed shortly after the group was created, weeks later the numbers dwindled, with the amount of people added per week in the single digits. Commenting steadily declined. People were leaving the group. Many were upset they had purchased action kits.

Another criticism about the Invisible Children organization was because of the March 15 police detainment of Jason Russell, co-founder of the organization and creator of the Kony 2012 video. Russell was found in San Diego, partially clothed, running through traffic, and exhibiting strange behavior.

Students took to the Facebook group to post news links about the incident and joke about the situation. Despite the controversy surrounding Russell’s behavior, Andrew Felman ‘14 still stands behind the campaign. “I think what he is doing to try and help kids in Africa shouldn’t be overlooked because of one mistake.”

Besides a few news articles posted regarding this situation, the group has stayed relatively inactive.

What Invisible Children is most apprehensive about is that “Cover the Night” may not be as successful as they had hoped. Posts that once echoed activists’ eager anticipation of the “Cover the Night” event, which takes place on April 20 and encourages supporters to plaster their towns with posters to “make Kony famous,” have not been commented on since the video first went viral.

“I really hope “Cover the Night” is more than just a trend amongst students,” said Zoe Cohen ’13, who created the “Westport Cover the Night” event page on Facebook. “I still plan on putting up posters and I hope other people still do.”

But others, like Schindler, are not as hopeful.

“As demonstrated by the Occupy Wall St. movement, this is a fad for Staples, and as all fads go (sillybands, Livestrong bracelets, etc.) this one will fade within a few weeks,” Schindler said. He added: “In a completely serious way, I think the only students who will actually take part in covering Westport will be students stoned out of their minds for 4/20 who are looking for something funny to do. Not to mention Westport will be ridden with every police they have on staff to stop kids from essentially graphitizing the town with pictures of an African warlord.”

Even if “KONY 2012” ultimately turns out to just be a fad, what is undeniable is the powerful effect that social media has had on teenagers.

“As the video said, this is an ‘experiment’ and I believe that this ‘experiment’ proved that a powerful enough, though misleading message can spread like wildfire over the internet,” Schindler said. “A message that moves people and calls them to action can and will move like an epidemic through social media. And with more users on Facebook now than there were people in the world in the dawn of the 20th century, the audience is seemingly endless.”

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