Stop hating on "slacktivists" - Kony2012

STOP HATING ON "SLACKTIVISTS."

I suspect that many of you out there were like me - you knew nothing about Joseph Kony until you saw Kony2012. Kony2012 set out to make him famous, and guess what? IT'S WORKING.

I watched the Kony2012 video with great interest. Aside from Arab Spring and our de facto invasion of Libya, news about recent conflicts in Africa don't get into American mainstream media outlets that often, so I've learned about some of the regional conflicts and their international implications through other sources who were much more aware. These other sources were aware of these conflicts because they CARED about what happens in Africa. That set me down the path to learn more about what was going on in Africa and I now consider myself better informed. That impacts how I perceive American foreign policy and how I decide to cast my vote in future elections, particularly federal elections where foreign policy is always an issue.

Skeptics take the default position that people who only watch a video, post a Facebook status, or change their profile picture for some cause make themselves feel valuable without actually contributing. Skeptics may also question the value of an awareness campaign, feeling like they're time is being wasted by people who don't do anything to solve the problem. Get off your high horse.

First, if you have EVER done any advertising for a cause without participating in it, whether it was online or not, then call yourself a slacktivist. You ever heard of the Day of Silence? The day where you participate by not speaking, but handing out flyers explaining that by being silent, you're bringing awareness to the oppression that LGBTs who are still in the closet feel? What about rocking a yellow ribbon for the troops? And don't think that because you spend a little bit of money on buying some form of advertisement that you're more than a slacktivist. That $1 yellow rubber band from Lance Armstrong doesn't make you better than a person who changes their FB status.

Second, awareness itself is a legitimate end. I can agree with the sentiment that doing more about a cause is better than just knowing that the cause exists, but there are issues all over the place that only have a specific demographic that really does anything about them. When protests were sweeping across Tehran challenging Achmedinejad's re-election, how many of us actually knew who Achmedinejad was? (President of Iran). Or where the hell Tehran was? (It's in Iran). Those protestors asked us in the social media community to tint our profile picture green to show support for their cause. Yup, I did it. I'm proud that I did it, even though I didn't fly into Iran to protest with them. Seeing all of those green images EMPOWERED the people doing the actual protesting to keep up their fight. Awareness moves those who were not aware before forward because now we know. Building awareness can also motivate those who have long been involved and have fought for that issue because we are also showing our support for them when we do something small, like change a Facebook status or our profile picture, at their request.

Finally, it is fair to suggest that people do their research on an issue before even taking the small step of reposting or whatever the trend happens to be. It is right to ensure that groups like Invisible Children and campaigns like Kony2012 have legitimate goals and methods. However - and think about this really hard now - if you're bashing on others who are reposting for some selfish reason, stop hating. If you're annoyed that someone is filling your newsfeed with something that they're passionate about or have an interest in, don't read it. If you want to make yourself feel better by bashing on others who show support for a cause in some way, you're a jerk. If you want to make yourself stand out by appearing to go against the trend, really?!?

We're talking about Kony now, when I bet most of us didn't know who Kony was on March 7. We're talking about foreign policy again, when most of us don't think past what happens in our daily lives like school, family, and work. Among all of the most industrialized nations in the world, Americans are the least informed when it comes to world affairs. Welcome the discussion - be a part of it. If you don't want to, then don't. Just don't be a jerk about it.

Disclaimer: I don't think the Kony2012 video was that great. I don't plan on getting an action kit, though I am interested in seeing how it plays out. I don't know yet if I'll be calling my federal representatives to support the continued presence of U.S. military advisors in Central Africa because my natural disposition is to be against military involvement in disputes in other countries.