Social Media has opened up the world to an extensive amount of knowledge that is easily accessible to anyone. Any question, concern, or source of entertainment that someone wants to access is readily available through the Internet. Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and various online blogs, are famous for allowing people to connect with friends and family, but can also be used as resourceful methods for activism. Some examples of social media activism include the use of hashtags on Twitter and Facebook, pictures posted on various sites, and a way used to manipulate Google's search engine known as "Google Bombing". Social Media is an easy, effective way to start an activist movement anywhere in the world by allowing people to share beliefs and ideas to achieve a common goal.
The Kony 2102, campaign is a prime example of how social media can be a powerful tool for activists. In 2012 an organization called Invisible Children Inc. released a short documentary on YouTube to help find and capture Joseph Kony, an African cult and army leader who would capture young children and make them part of his militia (Gregory, 464). It was not long after the video was released that people started to become involved in the campaign. Within the first week of the video being released it gained upwards of 100 million views and eventually led to the hash tag #StopKony trending on Twitter. People were eager to buy the "Kony 2012 Action Kit" to help support the movement. In "Kony 2012 Through a Prism of Video Advocacy Practices and Trends" Sam Gregory states: "Kony 2012 is the most rapidly disseminated human rights video ever and has fuelled significant policy and practical momentum in the United States and internationally around the situation of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). This campaign would have just been a figment of one man's imagination if it were not for the power of social media.
