KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

have you seen this?  if you've been on the internet the last couple days (especially twitter, facebook and/or instagram) i'm sure you've come across invisible children, stop kony, or make kony famous.  this video is very powerful and definitely brings to light the horrific things this man is doing and the situation in central africa.   there has been an outpouring of support from all over, from celebrities to the younger generations that thrive in social media.  there has also been quite a bit of opposition and criticism about the organization and the founders.  with anything that explodes in popularity, scrutiny and condemnation is inevitable.  people have lambasted everything from what they are doing isn't helping central africa at all to the salaries of the founders. 

invisible children has drawn a lot of attention to the situation in uganda/central africa, who joseph kony is and what the lord's resistance army (LRA) is doing in a very short amount of time.  people are gaining more knowledge.  and that is the point, right?  organizations and causes are always looking for exposure and a way to get their message out. with society today being very information savvy, people do their own research. so with all this information at our finger tips, we are given lots to chew on. some times causing a big splash with something flashy is the only way to get noticed, to get people hooked in.  and once they are interested, it is much easier to engage them.

in my last job, i was having a discussion with the ceo about a marketing ploy gone slightly wrong. we were issued cease and desist orders and all sorts of not so positive press.  i thought i was in some serious trouble.  but what he said to me has stuck.  press is press right?  good and bad press both brings us to the forefront and brings exposure.  people are intelligent and will make their own decisions.  but the fact that we are being talked about and recognized is what's important right now.  once they know who we are, they are more likely to listen and know more.  

there's no doubt that kony is a horrific person doing unfathomable things.  i can say with full confidence most 99% of the people tweeting, supporting and sharing the video above had no idea what the LRA or who kony is before this video. and without the work of the invisible children organization, we would have gone on being ignorant of the situation. so whatever your feelings are about invisible children organization, what they are doing and how they are doing it, watch the video above. if you choose to support them, (or any organization in fact) i encourage you to do your own research and dig deeper.  so do they.