The Next 27 Minutes Are An Experiment
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Transcript of The Next 27 Minutes Are An Experiment
The Next 27 Minutes Are An ExperimentThoughts On the Fallout of Kony 2012
Ruha DevanesanExecutive Director, Internet Bar Organization
[email protected]@ruhatd
The Campaign
Main Elements
• Personalize & emotionalize• Simplify• Alternate positivity & emergency • Integrate mainstream media & offline tastemakers
(celebrities)• Integrate offline events & physical ties to the cause• Invoke time-sensitivity• Integrate ‘easy to achieve’ calls to action
Personalizing Human Connections
Personalizing Human Experiences
Personalizing Foreign Conflict
Personalizing Foreign Conflict
Personalizing Foreign Conflict
Simplifying Foreign Conflict
IC’s Calls to Action
• Forward the link of the video• Buy the Kony Kit• Donate larger sum to Kony campaign• Write to celebrities and policymakers• Cover the night
Integrating Physical Goods
Integrating Offline Gatekeepers & Intermediaries
Integrating Offline Events
Critiques
• Over-simplification of facts, context & desired outcomes
• Predominantly Western-centric • Commercialization of conflict• Appeal to emotions rather than thought-
provoking or imparting knowledge• Intervention & militaristic focus of solution
Critiques
• Vilification of one actor/group • Exclusion of local voices in the narrative
and/or use of Western narrator• Financial critiques• Mental breakdown & public arrest of the film’s
director
Positive Outcomes
• Increased visibility of otherwise ‘invisible’ conflicts with otherwise foreign affairs myopic audiences
• Model for other human rights/humanitarian campaigns
• Kony 2012 Campaign’s Response to Criticism
Visibility of LRA Conflict
Visibility
Political Action
Programmatic Success
Model for other human rights/humanitarian campaigns
Invisible Children’s Reponses to Criticism
• Mental breakdown of co-founder Jason Russell• Follow-up videos• More context-specific conflict management tools• More comprehensive action steps for US-based
audiences• More multi-national and regional focus for political
advocacy, as opposed to solely US focus.
Follow Up Videos
More Context
Multinational Action Tools
Replicability & Improvements
• Personalize & emotionalize• Simplify but create gateways • Alternate positivity & emergency • Integrate mainstream media & offline
tastemakers (celebrities)
Replicability & Improvements
• Integrate offline events & physical ties to the cause
• (Invoke time-sensitivity) • Stay relevant to needs on the ground• Integrate ‘easy to achieve’ calls to action• There’s no shame in the pivot