The impact of social media

I generally stay out of public policy, religion and political discussions on my social media forums, but this is none of that.  

Much of my career and public speaking is about anti-bullying and KONY is the most evil kind of bully.

This is about children and their innocence and helping them.  EVERYONE should be about that!

There is a campaign afoot to make a man famous, well actually infamous TODAY! 

It is a campaign of celebrity dimension.  

A campaign to use "fame" or 'infame', but actually awareness, as a tool to bring him to justice.  Because he is a monster, much like the monster Hitler and his ilk proved to be.  His evil is happening NOW!

We are in a world that focuses on celebrity, titillation, gossip and breaking news.  

Train wrecks get views.  Shock sells.  SO, someone has taken it up himself'/themselves to make a man named KONY infamous, nothing is more shocking that what this man and his evil army have been allowed to do! 

I have mentioned the name KONY to five people I know who read the newspaper daily, keep up on world news and not one knew his name yesterday, nor did I.  

WE all know his name today.  

When I first viewed this video it had over 9,000,000 views on youtube, the day before, somewhere in the 32,000 range (according to a commenter on the youtube video) and at this writing over 32,000,000... 

two hours later I posted this photo below 4,000,000 more hits, 
KEEP IT UP! 
 
Mark my words, this will hit WORLD NEWS TONIGHT!  

IF you help, it will go beyond that.  It will create the DEMAND to take this guy out of power!  

Watch the video (every time someone watches $ for ad dollars goes to the foundation).  

Forward the link to your social media circle and ask them to do the same.  Blog about it, tweet about it, post it on your Facebook wall.  Make a difference.  Pick up the phone and let your representatives know you care
about this issue.  

As the man in video says, If someone kidnapped my son and made him kill it would be all over the news.  This is exactly what this monster and his regime are doing.  

STOP HIM NOW!

And so, predictably, the backlash begins.  Which is inevitable when something blows up this large.  Critics will crawl out of every nook and cranny to try to either destroy the momentum or capitalize on the numbers for their own self promotion. I have seen numerous conversations about this and how the organization that brought this video to bear isn't accountable, is too late, isn't effective in putting the money in the right places, blah, blah, blah...

 This is my response to the naysayers:

Whenever someone takes a HARD stand on something, people come out of the woodwork to criticize it.  This is a good thing in some ways, because it keeps it balanced and creates an environment where the propagator of the information must defend his or her positions.  

 I personally would rather err on the side of sensationalizing something that requires this kind of social media attention to save but ONE child's life, rather than get callus and 'throw the baby out with the bathwater', because the organization doesn't meet all my particular standards.  This is what often keeps people from doing good, doing God work; the thought that there are people involved who may not handle our "precious money" precisely correctly should never stop us from following our leading.  

There are many organizations founded on doing what is right and they will make mistakes because they are human like me.  There is a youtube right now stating the organization responsible for this KONY 2012 video only puts some 30% of the proceeds toward charity, which is, according to the naysayers ONLY $2-3 Million of a $9-ish Million budget. 

 SO, I ask this to the naysayers: how much did YOU raise?  Therefore, how much did YOU give?  This is video journalism, with a point, to convince, to cause change.  We can argue that it is late.  But again, I say, what are YOU doing?  What am I doing?  I heard of the Invisible Children years ago, but alas sent one check and went on my way.  NOW, I see what the fruits of this monster's labors have been since.  It is time to ACT!  

Be smart, but ACT!

And by the way, in the two hours since I last updated this blog the views are nearing 50,000,000, expect doubling within 24 hours.

"Evil flourishes when good men do nothing."