There is much controversy surrounding the Stop Kony 2012 campaign which has gone VIRAL! Incase you haven't seen the video documentary which illustrates the issue being fought against? Click here to watch.
Too many opinions have emerged regarding this situation that, it is hard to actually pin point how the world feels about what they saw in the video or heard via other social media sites. There are people who want to do all they can to help stop Kony, there are those who really don't care and there are the people quietly sitting on the fence trying to decide how they feel.
I am one of the latter. When I saw the video, my first response was, 'OMG! I have to blog, Facebook, tweet and email this round, I have to help.' However, after giving it some time and thought, my feelings have changed slightly.
I do want Kony stopped and I want to protect the children of Africa (and the world) but social media's response has made it difficult for me to actually want to fully support 'Stop Kony 2012'. How so??
The feeling I have got from reading what is being tweeted and posted about the situation is that, it's all about Kony ('making him famous'), when in reality this is a lot bigger than him. For me, the message we should be getting out of that 30 minute long video is that, there are still so many horrible things happening to children (and people) of the world, not just in Uganda or in Africa. And that's what this fight should be about.
Stopping Kony will be great but just like killing Osama Bin Laden didn't stop terrorism, it doesn't put an end to the molestation and abuse of children in Uganda, Africa and the world as a whole. So instead of focusing so much on stopping Kony, it should be about stopping child molestation (or making people aware that it still happens even in the 21st century) using him as an example. Creating awareness not for Joseph Kony but for child protection.
The underlying reasons why this campaign is being pushed so hard by the media may be shady (it's been suggested that the discovery of oil in Uganda 12months prior may have something to do with it) but we can make it something more worth while. Stop Kony 2012 is bigger than Joseph Kony!
