This time, the video by Invisible Children is not so much a repeat of their first call to action as a defense of their action.
It’s kind of like when the Star Wars franchise put out a sequel that actually went back in time to explain how everything got started.
Conspicuously absent from this new video subtitled “Beyond Famous” is the star of the first Stop Kony video, the organization’s co-founder Jason Russell, who was hospitalized after engaging in bizarre behavior.
This video is less emotive, more factual but still pretty self-referential — and perhaps less effective. The organization’s call for worldwide demonstrations on April 20 could be another barometer of the success of this social media campaign, though there is little question this initiative has succeeded at raising awareness of the atrocities of African warlord Joseph Kony.
Actually capturing Kony, or otherwise stopping his terror, will of course be the primary determinant of whether the public judges this campaign as mere “slacktivisim” or “clicktivisim” — or as an example of how social media can launch major movements.
Some of the news stories:
LA Times Kony sequel tries to tackle the criticism
Guardian Does new Kony video answer the questions?
CNN Kony sequel is out and firing back at critics
