On A Personal Note...

Confession of a twenty-something guy about to graduate college: I’m addicted to Facebook. As much as I hate to the say that, it’s true. The ruler of social media has sucked more time out of my life than I care to admit, and I’ve finally realized that it’s time to make a change. Today - as I write this - is the first day I have logged out of Facebook in months. I closed the tab on my browser. I deleted the app from my Smartphone. And goddamn does it feel liberating. Cold Turkey isn’t always easy though, as the real test of my will power and resistance still awaits me.

What brought about this sudden change in lifestyle you may ask? Well, a few weeks ago I was dumped. My long-term relationship with a girl I’ve known for ten years ended abruptly. I was crushed. Ok, enough of the sob story… the silver lining here is that I discovered a dangerous addiction that I am now on the way to remedying. Our relationship was long-distance – we’re both at different universities, one East and one West – so communication was always a little tricky. I found myself constantly checking up on her through social media; looking at pictures, seeing what she was up to, reading what her friends had to say. In a way, I was trying to replace a real relationship with an online one, especially post break up. I couldn’t go an hour without checking her page. It had to stop.

On top of that, I fell back on my own Facebook existence to weather the storm. For an entire week, I posted as much content as I could. I checked in everywhere I went, tagging all of my friends with me. I posted pictures of me out having a good time, pretending like everything was fine. I wanted her to see that I was moving on.

After thinking about this experience for a while now, I realize how fake it is. It’s been said a million times, but Social Media really is destroying our potential to interact in personal and meaningful ways. If Facebook did not exist now, I wouldn’t have drawn out my break up so long. It would have been harder at first, but at least it would have been final. Instead, I’ve been trying to hold on to the good memories through her virtual existence. And myself? I’m not really back to normal and having a great time yet, but my Facebook page says otherwise. What was I thinking?

This is only a single example of how relationships do not translate evenly across the physical and digital worlds. My relationship at least had a partially physical aspect. Now think about all the connections through social media that don’t. They are often meaningless, falsely represented images of what’s real, making social media far less effective when utilizing its networks for causes beyond personal communication.

Pardon my rant, but I had to get that out.

Crazy Good Marketing

For the third week in a row the KONY 2012 campaign has made headlines, only this week not for its viral YouTube video. It’s no secret that more and more media outlets are reporting that “KONY 2012 is Not a Revolution”, now focusing on the skewed and oversimplified message presented by Invisible Children front man Jason Russell. So, what has the papers talking now? Last week police in Pacific Beach, San Diego detained Russell after witnesses reported him wandering through the streets and obstructing traffic in only his underwear while screaming incoherently. His wife and family maintain that drugs or alcohol did not induce the incident, and doctors are now reporting that Russell has been diagnosed with brief reactive psychosis.

"Doctors say this is a common experience given the great mental, emotional and physical shock his body has gone through in these last two weeks," Danica Russell said in a statement. With 84 million YouTube hits now, the KONY 2012 video ushered in a storm of critical reactions and responses, many of which were personally directed at Russell himself, eventually triggering his episode. Well, I hate to say this, but he deserved it (not the Psychosis part). The real fault of Russell’s self-narrated video was the voice - it was too personal. The film opens with footage of Russell’s son Gavin being born. He continues to speak to young Gavin throughout the story, explaining to him how Joseph Kony is a “bad guy.” The film then ends with Russell’s wish to leave the world a better place for Gavin, one that he can be proud of.

Ok, he’s really really cute. But let’s be real - this video is supposed to be about the thousands of Africans living under the oppression of Kony’s army. Where is their story? Where are their voices? The video also omits a lot of critical information about the region affected by Kony, presenting an “oversimplified” image. There is no mention of conflict over land and resources, the unstable health and education systems, or the widespread youth illness known as “nodding disease”. Clearly, the video has been skewed to cater to a Western audience, pulling at the heartstrings of Americans by presenting a simplified version of the truth. It’s easy to sympathize with a cause that wants to stop an evil man from abducting children, so that a white American poster-boy can have a better future. That’s marketing for you.

So what does this all say about Social Media? For one, it’s used to appeal to the masses. KONY 2012 was not meant to be educational. If you really want to learn about what’s going on over there, go watch a documentary or read some credible journalists. This campaign was strategically planned to capture the support of American youths … high production value film, pop-culture stars backing the campaign, a trendy bracelet and activism kit to show support, all spread over Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. If KONY 2012 didn’t have all this pizzazz that appeals to college students, do you think it would have become so viral?

Social Media has the power to tailor causes to specific audiences. It can make issues seem “cool”, and play at your emotions. And it can certainly leave a lot of relevant information out of the equation – a Tweet is only 140 characters after all. The point is that the real issues with Kony and the area he’s affecting have nothing to do with Jason Russell or his son Gavin or a cool bracelet. But Invisible Children’s campaign used these factors to manipulate its target audience into sympathizing with their cause and generating rapid awareness. That’s almost absurd enough to make me run screaming through the streets naked.

KONY 2012: Slacktivism Turned Viral

Step aside Rebecca Black and Denver the Guilty Dog, a new challenger is making a run for the fastest growing viral video in history. His name is Joseph Kony. You might be asking yourself, “Who the hell is that?” Don’t worry though, your ignorance is justified, because hardly anybody knew who this guy was before the beginning of the week. Since its release on Monday, March 5, the KONY 2012 campaign has already received over 36 million views on YouTube. You’ve probably noticed about twenty or so of your Facebook friends posting about it, sharing the video, and asking others to watch. So, what’s all the fuss about?

“KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.” Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan militia notorious for ruthless murders and the abduction of thousands of African children. The International Criminal Court has ranked him #1 on the list of the World’s Worst Criminals. To put it simply, Kony is an evil man that must be stopped.

Invisible Children’s (IC) campaign is definitely off to a powerful start. It will no doubt achieve its goal of making Kony a household name by mid-year – a true testament to the awareness capability of social media. The campaign is also urging supporters to sign a petition, to donate money, and to message prominent cultural and political figures whom IC has targeted for support. But what about its ultimate goal; bringing Kony to justice? This requires real, effective, physical activism. As IC explains, it is entirely dependent on the continued presence of American military advisers in Africa, who will strategize with local governments and armies to bring Kony down. Unfortunately, sharing the KONY 2012 video on Facebook and Twitter is not making this any easier. Let’s face it – our tweets and posts don’t have any tangible effects on American foreign policy. Once again though, millions of people’s involvement with this cause will start and end with sharing a video on their wall. I feel like forcing them all to listen to Rage Against the Machine. WAKE UP people, Social Media is not the answer to this problem!

In fairness, IC has established an actual ground presence in Africa. They’ve successfully rescued children, rebuilt some of the destruction caused by Kony’s army, and set up a radio-alert system to warn of imminent attacks. But as with most viral social media campaigns, many will pass on the Kony video before doing their research. Almost equally in the media spotlight this week is the critical response to KONY 2012, with many prominent sources (Huffington Post, Mashable, Jezebel)  calling out the dubious financials of Invisible Children, their call for military involvement, and their questionable marketing tactics. My point is that if you spend a little time reading about the organization behind the video (about as much as it took you to watch it), you might find that it’s not as virtuous as it appears on Facebook. The flood of immediate and total support of KONY 2012 amongst my friends is just another example of how Social Media tools have transformed us into a generation of “skimmers.” It looks great at first glance, so of course I’m for it. Now, let me get back to browsing cat memes. As the saying goes, don’t believe everything you read (or watch).

And just because I have to...