Film 260 flipbook

1. Is social media an effective
method of raising awareness
about global issues?
Image by AMERICANVIRUS via Flickr
By Maggie Lever

2. The Kony 2012 video,
narrated by the Invisible Children Co-Founder Jason Russell,
talks about the Ugandan War Lord, Joseph Kony
in attempt to raise awareness about his criminal acts

3. This Kony 2012 video
by the U.S. non-profit group, Invisible Children
is now the most viral video related to
activism of all time
Image by Roel Wijnats via Flickr

4. The video reached over 100 million views,
more quickly than any previous video.
A poll conducted at the time
suggested that over half of
young adult Americans
had heard about the
campaign within days of its release.
Image by JoelAnthonyValdez via Flickr

5. The popularity of the video was quickly followed by a backlash
stating that the video depicts the
“white male savior, swooping into Africa to save „those poor people.‟”
- Alicia Eler
Image by Jack Zalium via Flickr

6. Image by Africa Renewal via Flickr
The Western world‟s attitude of
“us versus them” and “they need
our help” tends to predominate
in global development efforts

7. Pictures of children in developing countries
promote a paternalistic attitude in an attempt
to obtain funding and support for groups
supplying aid.
Image by T U R K A I R O via Flickr

8. There are 2 main ways of attracting people‟s attention
in order to promote awareness and
funding of a cause –
making it sexy, or making people feel guilty
Image by rogiro via Flickr

9. In the past, development efforts have used a strategy
called “pornography of poverty”,
designed to evoke pity and guilt.
Instead,
recently there has been a shift to focus more on
the power of the Western world,
making it cool and sexy to share the wealth.
Image by T U R K A I R O via Flickr

10. Over the past 35 years
children have become the
focus of fundraising
campaigns because
images of children
evoke sympathy
and guilt

11. In the past 50 years, activism has transformed
and is a reflection of our time
From marches in the 60‟s to pop artists
and pop songs to raise awareness in the 1980‟s
Activism changes in order to
cater to what is popular - making it sexy
Image by gbaku via Flickr

12. Since phones and
computers are
more relevant
today,
clicktivism has
emerged
Click-throughs,
retweets, instant messaging
and a variety of digital marketing
measurements are useful tools
for social activism

13. But do these methods of digital marketing fail to include the essential
human element that relates to the spirit of activism that encourages
participants to raise their voices and be heard
Image by Africa Renewal via Flickr

14. Image by Africa Renewal via Flickr
Clicktivism may lack the
traditional enthusiasm of
“real-life” activism
that includes marches and
protests,
but it certainly can quickly
inform and raise
awareness

15. Clicktivism enables a
cause to be noticed
and depending on the
graphics that accompany
the message, the cause
may be difficult to ignore

16. Image by Robert Raines via Flickr
The Kony 2012 video
quickly raised awareness
of the brutal acts of Joseph Kony
in Uganda
and the message
was difficult to ignore

18. Awareness of Joseph Kony was the
first step, but the follow through on
the cause was the disappointing
feature

19. People stopped following
the Kony campaign as
soon as it wasn‟t popular
anymore
Image by rogiro via Flickr

20. Is social media an effective method of
raising awareness of global issues?
Awareness must be maintained,
and the issue needs to be
resolved,
and much of what is
currently being done
through the media
is only the first step.
Yes, awareness is raised,
but this is only the first step
Image by Africa Renewal via Flickr

21. Resources
• http://readwrite.com/2012/03/19/why_kony_2012_went_vir
al#feed=/author/alicia-eler
• http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/cerian-jenkins/clicktivism-a-
model-for-2_b_2210340.html
• Devlopment Made Sexy: how It happened and what it means
by John Cameron & Anna Haanstra.
Third World Quarterly, Vol. 29. No. 8, 2008. pp 1475-1489
Images from Flickr - creative commons