Kony 2012: success or failure?
The Kony 2012 online video campaign was a remarkable phenomenon. The video achieved more than 100 million hits on YouTube.
But did the campaign ultimately succeed or fail? Invisible Children, the organisation behindthe campaign, believes it has brought much needed attention to the conflict with the Lord’s Resistance Army. Others tell us that there was little of the deeper engagement which a campaign like this should seek to achieve. And of course, Joseph Kony himself is still at large, evading the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.
In this report, our focus is not on the merits or otherwise of advocating military interventionto capture Kony, but on the campaign itself. We have talked to a range of experts in the UK, US and Uganda and we consider in detail the logistics of the campaign, how and why it reached so many people, and the lessons which can be learnt for any future online campaigns.
We hope that this report stimulates a wider discussion about the potential of online campaigns. IBT always welcomes feedback, so once you have read the report please let us know your thoughts.
