#comm2p91

Overall I would rate this class a 9/10 as the course material was interesting and relatable. Since the web 2.0 environment and the progression of social networking has allowed a new way of enhancing communication. I enjoyed the presentation and how people gathered information on social media sites that i have never heard of before. I find that this class is very realistic and how i actually learned something that i can use on a daily basis. I will highly recommend this course to other Brock University students. 

Previous to this class i was not aware of the use of social bookmarking. Social Bookmarking allows users to save websites online for a different viewing time. I am now a user of delicious and have used it for saving research for my final papers. Social bookmarking had helped me manage my time management skills and will hopefully encourage me to be more organized online. 

Since Social media is something that i am fully addicted to i enjoyed the selfies and the Twitter lecture. I use Twitter and Instagram frequently but it was fun being able to take pictures and tweet during class for participation. ( my followers will always mention to me how they wish their classes were more interactive like ours online #comm2p91) Personally i am doing a research project in COMM 3p15 about the selfie craze and how it influences its users. And for the insight on Twitter throughout the course it was always awesome to learn new tricks. 

Collective Action

  The #KONY2012 social media incentive was one of the most powerful movements that has ever occurred over the web. This day in age, and with the power of web 2.0, the fastest way to tell a large group of people about an issue, is through social media.

When I watched this video, many things struck me as relevant to what we’ve talked about throughout this course. Firstly, the hashtag #KONY2012 was extremely effective. The movement was spread through the use of this hashtag, and the movement was defined by it. Through Twitter, #KONY2012 was trending worldwide in a matter of hours. Secondly, one the social media networks we talked about a lot in class was YouTube. The Kony movement started with a 30 minute documentary posted on YouTube, and to date is known as the fastest video in history reach 100 million views. It did so in less than 1 week. I think one of the reasons why the movement spread so quickly was because of the combination of the networks used to promote the video. Nothing was posted on Facebook, or twitter, or YouTube before the day the video was released. Finally, and the day it was released, all social media network were blasted by this Kony video and hence spread like wild fire.

There are a few benefits of this incentive as well as one large constraint. The main benefit was that the documentary was produced in a way that it struck a chord with those who watched it. People wanted to share the message and this allowed the video to go viral very quickly. On the contrary, after everyone had seen the video, nothing else happened. In the video, the activists wanted to blast major cities across the world with KONY propaganda to create even more awareness. From persona experience, this part of the campaign was unsuccessful because people lost touch with the movement by the time the day came for this to happen. Although the video was powerful, nothing was done about it. Social media is only step 1 in creating change, step 2 is the action.

  Zuckerman’s Blog

Zuckerman’s blog post shared a lot of valuable insights on the KONY movement. Some of the criticisms of the movement are interesting to note. I thought it was interesting that there were no African’s on the board of Invisible Children. The video focused mainly only American action and American awareness. Also, the Visible Children tumblr (one that criticized Invisible Children) pointed out that Invisible Children spends less than a third of the money they’ve raised on direct services in Northern Uganda and bordering areas. The majority of their money is focused on advocacy, filmmaking, and fundraising. So really, how much of a difference are they actually making? Lastly, KONY is no longer in Uganda, a basic issue that should have been considered when constructing the film.

  Additional Criticisms 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/08/joseph-kony-video-stop-kony_n_1332427.html

  A few different criticisms came in this article from the Huffington post. Invisible Children’s support for military action also has come under fire. "The savior attitude is pervasive in advocacy, and it inevitably shapes programming. Usually misconceived programming. The saving attitude pervades too many aid failures, not to mention military interventions. The list is long."

Also, a minor instance but caused much debate was a photo showing three members of Invisible Children holding guns and posing with members of the Sudan’s People’s Liberation Army. This didn’t help with PR at all.

  Overall, the KONY movement was effective despite criticisms. But the main question is, what for? And What’s Next?

Kony 2012 was a video released in the incentive to raise awareness of the LRA leader Joseph Kony and the actions that has been taken. By raising awareness it became an internet interest and global campaign. "Humanities greatest desire is to belong and connect, and now we see each other, we hear each other, we share what we love and it remind us what we have in common." That quote was shared at the beginning of the documentary and i believe that online Kony 2012 campaign relates perfectly to this course. This awareness turned into action when it was able to be viral when released on YouTube. The plan was to make him famous for his crimes and to make it possible to find him and make the arrest. 

The Kony 2012 is an informative video clip that was placed on the web for anyone to watch and share amongst networks. The video is evidence that social media has the impact to effect global change. The video has over 99 million views and was influenced on Facebook and Twitter as well. 

One of the benefits i found this video has was that the Director Jason used his son Gavin to tell the story of Joseph Kony and the invisible children. People on Youtube love small young cute children and i believe that helped increase the emotional impact in the video. I think they should have made a shorter version because that was the reason i didn't originally watch it when it came out. 

The Zuckerman article discusses positive and negative critical aspects of the Kony 2012 incentive. As the campaign gained popularity it also received some negative criticism. The Visible Children tumblr points out that Invisible Children spends less than a third of the money they’ve raised on direct services in northern Uganda and bordering areas. The majority of their funding is focused on advocacy, filmmaking and fundraising. This suggests that the strategy may not be as effective as it could have been. 

Overall I believe that the social media contribution to the campaign is what make it extremely popular. The search for Josephy Kony is still in motion and vision to save the Invisible Children. 

Previous to this lecture I was not aware of “The Story of the Hactivists” and the power the Internet has against individuals and the government. The hacker culture originally started as humerous pranks and wanted to make a statement on how to treat information. Since the tragedies of 911 there has been extreme measures in increasing technology for security and privacy. Hackers feel that everyone has the right to information and that the government should not hide details from people. Hackers feel as if they need to take that power and equal the level playing field. The term Anonoymous is a shared unkown identity who post images and comments on the board of 4chan. Anonoymous oppose internet censorship and control, and the majority of their actions target governments, organizations, and corporations that they accuse of censorship. As a group these people formed the first Internet activist group. Most of these people thought they were alone but now they have the power online and offline.

Being Anonoymous allowed for these people’s voices to be heard and therefore changing the future of protesting. With the rise of the 2.0 environment it is sometimes important to remain anonymity because your opinion online can get you killed or harassed. Anonymity is extremely effective in promoting freedom of expression. Anonymity is beneficial because it gives people an outlet for their opinions, even controversial ones. I believe that people should have the freedom of expression online because it enhances online communities and knowledge. But I think that people need to be respectful and aware of the effect that online communication has on society. Internet is now a huge role in our culture and who ever controls it can enable a lot of power.