Kony 2012 Invisible Children: Crowdsource geopolitics is born

Jason Russell, Filmaker behind Invisible Children and Kony 2011

When I got home yesterday my two of my children met me at the door and urgently led me by the hand to our PC, insisting "You have to see this. It's important."   What followed was the half hour  Invisible Children / Kony 2012 campaign video. The movie tellingly opens with the statement "Right now there are more people on Facebook that there were on the planet two hundred years ago" and goes on to lay out a social medial campaign to capture Joseph Kony, a Ugandan rebel leader who has maintained power by kidnapping children to use as soldiers for twenty three years, by the December 31st 2012.  This was not the first I had heard of Koby, and he is not the only strongman to have used children as troops, but this was something utterly new in approach and assumptions.   Within minutes, I  recognized that well-meaning goals aside, I might be watching a brand new, potentially historical social phenomena, with a class-leveling populist ideology.  One can't help but draw parallels with the tides socialism or communism at the turn of the century; ironically (considering the largely democratic, relatively high wealth base) perhaps born of a similar frustration in the seeming inability of the common man without connections or influence to create political movement, coupled with a pervasive perception of current politics as being cynical, corrupt and ineffective process.

Whatever the underlying factors, my children were watching it for the third time that day- an hour and a half of teenage time set aside for this one activity. This was followed was over an hour of impassioned planning; an action plan of outreach through social networks, traditional letter writing to elected officials, personal fundraising, and mobilizing their schools for further outreach and fundraising; an effort made easier by the fact that my younger child's English and history teacher had agreed to show and use the video as a starting point for a discussion the following day. A movie had not only mobilized my children, to move beyond rhetoric to actual action, but had also filtered up to the school administration (and thus broad acceptance) in a matter of days. This was viral on a whole new level: Focused, goal-oriented, geo-political and massively effective in delivering its message.  The Invisible Children / Kony 2012 campaign had gone viral internationally and was creating a brand new power dynamic.

The Kony 2012 / Invisible Children Film

Whatever your opinions of the criticism or details of the Kony 2012 campaign- the most appropriate use of donated funds, how urgent the current threat is, etc; perhaps the most significant society-changing aspect is that it represents the first successful foray into the micro-focused use of social media and technology to address a single global issue. This clearly represents an entirely new power dynamic in the area of geopolitics; one that until recently was not technologically possible, and one that will no doubt attempt to be  replicated and improved upon in the near future.

There is little argument that the conditions leading to the restlessness that sparked the Arab Spring, and the movement's ability to topple long-held power structures could not have taken place without the fluid real- time communication and inherent openness of easily available current technology.  The US presidential race is similarly tech-centered now, with online fundraising, accessibility and image control no longer optional for political contenders; which inherently already creates a crowdsourced, social social network-influenced result. Influencing the choice of one the leaders of the free world isn't inconsiderable in terms of geopolitical power in itself, but Kony 2012 is destined to be a game-changer in the way things are done worldwide for the following reasons:

The focus here is is on a relatively obscure issue taking place on the other side of the globe. Normally, political action beyond words and sympathetic head shaking is motivated by  a limited number of factors that decide if there a national interest in getting involved,  which is determined broadly (and perhaps appropriately, taking into account that our influence and resources are limited and might be more effective when focused on key areas) by considering the following three questions:

First, and most urgently, is there a direct threat to our national security, or does stabilizing or aligning with this area have strategic importance? Secondly, is there an reasonably immediate economic threat or economic interest for us in the region? Thirdly, the "soft" category; that is, are there pressures from our allies, expectations on a humanitarian basis, inside grass roots voter pressure or changing social morays that make it appropriate to act?

Of the third, "soft category", factors; citizen and social pressure is the one that historically takes the longest time to filter up to the point where it is creates movement. The anti Vietnam war protest, women's rights, integration and voting rights are all good examples of movements that took years or decades of grass roots organizing and protest to create the change they envisioned; as are a range of international humanitarian missions that needed to reach a critical level of awareness before action was taken.

An idea with a timetable, complete with deadline

Now, in literally days, over five million people have been mobilized into awareness and action, primarily through using a shot a short film and social networking as catalysts to create awareness of a problem across the world. The filmmaker, Jason Russell, was quite unapologetic in the use of a significant portion of the contributions to the Invisible Children campaign being used to make and distribute to film.  In this case, the message is the product, and he calls the awareness campaign "an experiment to create change'.

However sincere or experimental, this is also a sophisticated, carefully planned, savvy, segment-focused and detailed campaign. It is no coincidence that it's being released in a campaign year and touted as being beyond party politics, while still having an awareness of the benefit of manipulating the sensitivity of politicians to media trends in election years for maximum benefit.  It's just this sort of fine balancing between idealism and cynicism that Russell does with such finesse.  There's a remarkable openness with the film audience about the necessity  of manipulating the media and politicians (and should they consider it, the viewers themselves) in a way that requires admirable marketing sophistication and a certain cynical acceptance of how things work; but somehow it never sullies the image of impassioned idealist; rather it  creates a picture of a dreamer cleverly considering and taking every possible advantage in the David and Goliath battle against existing apathy and lack of political will. One is asked to join in to become a willing pawn in the overall media campaign, with no attempt to disguise that fact, in order to achieve a greater good.

Extensive and detailed analysis of what made it such a success is sure to follow; but arguably the biggest factors were the genuine, personal informal tone of the video, which would resonate and feel familiar to the intended audience of younger viewers that are cynical and media savvy enough to sense hype, but are also looking for leadership and an ability to have some ability to influence things in a world that is feeling larger and more connected but still has problems that are frustratingly complex and intractable.  This results in the dichotomy of simultaneously having a sense of being both aware of the world in a way that was unthinkable to previous generations, and still often being helpless to change the very things they might become aware of.  In addition, the levels of atrocity (which some children haven't been exposed to in such detail previously) and the fact that it was committed against children just like them, coupled with an uncomplicatedly evil Koby (who seemingly has no muddying idealogical or political goals other than staying in power) make this the "perfect storm" for a strong uncomplicated emotional response.

Kony depicted with Bin Laden, Hitler on downloadable poster

This second part, the helplessness to feel one can have a real effect, was neatly addressed by  a clear and user-friendly packaged way to effectively participate, including a clear short timetable including a specific date for a dramatic all stops out media friendly event, and a "protest kit" available for those who donate to the cause (these had already long been exhausted by the time my children logged on but, again, there was sufficient forethought to make a downloadable kit available), and highly specific conveniently linked things that could make a difference and why. I couldn't help but think how well put together it all was from a customer experience point of view.

Slacktivists? Backlash to movement 

"Why it will work" was the last aspect that made the film so powerful as a motivator.  From explaining  why celebrities were involved and that they were drawn from a range of demographics, to specifically why contacting politicians is likely to create movement (with the added reinforcement in that it  has already altered the Obama administration's stance) ; to why there's a specific timetable and what the reaction is likely to be following the night of solidarity; throughout there was a sense of bringing the viewer in on the marketing plan. The assumption was that the viewer was aware of the power of the media and information, and so could be in on manipulating it for a goal that was firmly established early on as being the moral and decent thing to do.  The obvious morality of the situation is underscored with the use of a Gavin, producer's Jason Russell's son, who naturally doesn't understand why we don't "get the bad guy", which also may link into a younger generation that wants to be idealistic but feels unempowered. They can both still relate to the boy's innocence and emotion, but unlike him, also be given an clearly defined path to flex their new power and independence as young adults or teens to act. Naturally there is also an internet backlash by the same demographic against the "slacktivists" "...Because anyone who thinks changing their Facebook avatar will fix anything deserves a lampooning" targeted  at the perceived audience of this campaign

Between the heady feel of being empowered to change the world, having the opportunity able to act altruistically and idealistically, joining a hip and socially relevant movement (wrist bracelets are naturally available), there's little doubt that "viral" was inevitable. My children have already mobilized their friends and are setting up fundraising events. They feel empowered, relevant and virtuous.  I wonder if they will someday grow cynical or overwhelmed as attempts to copy the success of this early foray into focused social media politics results in a barrage of potentially equally deserving causes competing to capture their attention and  engage them; and if they will become discouraged or numb to the seemingly unending variety of ways that people can be made to suffer unfairly throughout the world. If this is a success (perhaps partly due the newness of the form), at least they may be able to tell themselves they were once a small part of capturing a super-villain, before the world got so complex.