What's the Hype About Kony 2012?

Many of you have been seeing the name " Kony 2012 " all over the internet the last few days. Many have an idea of what it is and many have no clue what it is. Since I have seen it all over social media sites and the internet. I figured I would take the time to sit and write a bit about it so you could understand what Kony 2012 is and what its main objective is.

Kony 2012 is a documentary Video about the Ugandan Warlord, Joseph Kony and his atrocities. This 30 minute film aims to create awareness to the world and bring Kony to justice. Since the video released it has gone viral, and is backed by the Invisible Children. The video Kony 2012 is supposed to make Kony " famous ". Maker Jason Russell has stated that Kony is the" most wanted man in the world " according to the International Code Council or ICC.

The invisible children started when Jason Russell travelled to Uganda and befriended a local child named Jacob and promised to end his suffering. then in 2006 he co founded Invisible children as a non-profit organization that helps with "advocacy and inspiring youths to do more than just watch ".

Joseph Kony has been the Leader of the guerrilla group known as LRA or Lord's Resistance Army for 26 years. This group is responsible for murder, rape , torture, and mass abductions and slavery. When Kony began to run out of fighters he started capturing children to be turned into soldiers in his army or " wives" for his current officers. The LRA encourages its soldiers to rape, mutilate, and kill off civilians with blunt weapons. Though the LRA is no longer active in Northern Uganda but it continues to promote violence in the democratic republic of Congo, the central African Republic, and South Sudan. Kony is responsible for enslaving more than 30, 000 children and murdering at least 2.1 million people.

Invisible Children have been working for over 9 years to end Africa's longest running armed conflict. 100 United States military advisers are currently deployed in Central Africa on a " time Limited " mission to stop Kony and to disarm the LRA.

This campaign wants to make Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but simply to raise support for his arrest and set precedent for international justice. For this case, notoriety translates into public support to end his terroristic ways. The more people know about the crimes from the last 26 years the more they will unite to stop him. Also by making Kony famous , when he is stopped he will be a completely visible and concrete example of international justice . With that other war criminals will know that everything that they do will not go unnoticed or unpunished.

So far tens of thousands of Australians have signed onto the cause and with over a million views worldwide, the video has officially gone viral. though not everyone supports Kony 2012. People are raising doubts whether using social media is appropriate for advocacy and fund-raising.

Several Blogs have begged people to actually research and read and find the facts before putting your name on a pledge or on a cause. People are speculating that simply Kony2012 is just making money off of a problem that has been going on over 20 years.

• What's your position on Kony 2012?
• Do you think military advisors will be able to catch Kony by the end of 2012?