Of course it was a success. But so is American idol.

Perhaps 30-90 seconds of the 29 minute video could have been devoted to briefly admitting that the solution to the Kony problem was going to be complicated.

Many people watched the video and felt moved and motivated. When they read the many critique articles, they likely felt a little betrayed that the video had oversimplified the issue.

I think simplification is a great tool, but what has many people upset is the oversimplification.

This being said, from all I can tell the capture of Kony is still a worthwhile endeavor so far as the efforts to do so don't result in new, more complicated problems.

screaming and masturbating in an intersection in broad day light probably won't help this cause.

Do you really believe that high school and college students would educate themselves further into the issue? Assuming that they did, they would go to surface level information sources like Wikipedia or to a media that knows about as much about the situation as they do. The average person that you targetted would not go to an indepth source like an international studies think tank or a similar academic resource where they would have learned something. Instead, they are getting the same basic information that the video gave them: "Nasty man in Africa abducts kids, murders innocents." My friends were surprised when I told them that the LRA evolved out of remnants of the previous regime or that the placing of refugee camps around military outposts made civilians into meat shields.

What you've created are a bunch of very-aware, half-educated zombies who have made the decison to lobby their government for extended military involvement based solely on emotions and a name and almost everything that they know about Joseph Kony and the LRA, from what he wants to the solution to capture or kill him, comes from your film. They never would have guessed that sending a letter to their representatives was a more time-efficient way of advocating than pissing off their cities and plastering posters, that they did not need your premade "action kit" to make a difference if they are willing to make their own posters and their own t-shirts like any self-respecting grassroots advocate would have done, or that pressuring the Museveni regime to pick up the slack on finding Kony and at least be a competent dictator would have fewer moral questions than extending US military involvement indefinitely without any conditions was an option.

The problem with Invisible Children is that they aimed for the lowest common denominator. Advocacy without understanding is worthless, if not detrimental. By leaving advocacy to those who do not properly understand what they are asking for, you have placed the Ugandan people at risk by merely focusing on a symptom of Uganda's problem of poor governance and indirectly strengthening a dictator. An advocate and a person in general must be willing to acknowledge and accept the potential ramifications and consequences of their actions. Invisible Children is either unaware of the potential ramifications of what they are doing and what they are pushing or they refuse to admit them.

On 20/21 April, a bunch of kids are going to put up their posters with no clear understanding of the ramifications and consequences involved and will go to bed with the conviction that they had done the world right. But, what if there is a net gain in deaths that comes out of this as a result of Kony's capture or death and the side effect of fattening of the Museveni regime and his repressive rule? Will those kids have done the world ill? Will the blood of repressed Ugandans be on their hands if the push to capture Kony leads to more deaths, regardless of what was in their hearts? Who knows?

This is not the morally obvious question that you seem to believe that it is, Mr. Finck. Joseph Kony may be a bad actor but he is not the main problem of Uganda. If it weren't for the incompetence and corruption of the Museveni regime, we would not be worrying about Joseph Kony because he would have already been handled and by refusing to handle Kony within the social context that he exists, you and the Invisible Children organization have blown over other, potentially better solutions than militarization and endangered lives.

I understand that the message has to be simple to generate this many views, for a video to go this viral. HOWEVER, a simple mention of SOLUTIONS for how to get said results would have prevented A LOT of the criticism. Lobby governments for more action? OK, what KIND of action? Because military intervention/escalation is not smart in this post Afghan/Iraqi invasion climate. Yet because the message is so simple people can mistake this for a call for US military intervention in Central Africa.

Also, mention what the money donated to Invisible Children goes to. Like the FM radio defection project, or the education and quality of life improvement projects in formerly war torn areas. Inspire some confidence in people that you have a good idea of what works as far as getting results and people won't criticize the simplification.

Oversimplification leads uninformed people to think bad ideas are good solutions, like a large scale deployment of US troops into Central Africa (not productive to find a small militia of 200 people in a jungle where other civil wars are also being fought), or providing more funding and assistance to the Ugandan and Congolese armies (when they have also committed human rights violations).

Perhaps Invisible Children isn't receiving commentary from folks in Congo or CAR because it's in English and not French...?

Kony 2012 is the perfect marriage of the type of forighn policy and canvassing governments would like to make on the world through the sheer momentum that has carried this through. I only hope the same message sings to the politicians and public when highlighting some of the other problems in the world.

"The insight of local leaders in the DRC, the CAR, and South Sudan has been largely excluded from the broader conversation." One concern with IC's viral video: it too excluded those voices. Millions were introduced to the LRA by an American man, his child, and 3 Ugandans. That the broader conversation hasn't been more inclusive could have something to do with this simplistic story, no? In any case, IC has been learning quickly that people in America and Africa care about its programs, narrative choices, and, yes, complexity. I'd say openness to learning and reflection are good for any organization infused with millions of new dollars.

Moving forward, few question the immorality of Kony's tactics or oppose video's desired end: stop Kony. There are legit questions about morality and logistics of means: Doesn't military offensive vs. LRA mean military offensive against abductees? What form should US assistance take when dealing with armies/regimes that have records of major rights violations? Will affected communities have a say in shaping interventions, seeing as they're marginalized in their own countries? Etc. I hope any broader conversation can begin addressing some of these meaningful debates and significant challenges to future policy and action.

Is it true then, that well-educated americans have a limited attention span? Is that really the reason why you can't give them a proper backgrounder of the situation in central Africa? Wow. I would have expected more from the commoners of the young leaders of the Free World. But it seems to me that, according to invisible children, we are expected to deal with five year olds there.

Support for this movement is crumbling. I doubt it can last another month, at least at the level we were originally suspecting. JuegosThe only KONY chatter I see now online is about how the movement is falling apart.

The main thing is that the momentum towards this campaign keeps moving forward and this that write in the media and write songs from wedding music to hip hop take the social baton and raise awareness for the invisible children.

Comment, then question.
I showed the video to a class at school and stopped the video briefly following the segment at 15:01. The video shows a red blob moving from one area to another, while the voice over speaks of Kony's spread into other countries. When I asked the students what they thought, they said that meant Kony was expanding, getting bigger, moving into other countries. At no point were they aware that the movement was not a growth of the LRA.

The annual report of IC indicates a net loss of over a mil in FY 09, breaking even in '10 and profit of 4 mil in '11. According to the numbers on Charity Navigators, there has been profit every year. Additionally, IC showed assets of more than 2 mil before netting over 4 mil in '11. 2 questions. What are the accurate figures, and where will the money from the kits go? With a track record of great earning on bracelets and clothing, the kits will most likely show similar gains, which is a lot of potential profit.

The fact was that it told a story is what helped it become viral. Footage that is easily understood and easily followed appeals to the masses. OK, we may not have shed a tear but we certainly felt compelled to pass it on.

The fact was that it told a story is what helped it become viral. Footage that is easily understood and easily followed appeals to the masses. OK, we may not have shed a tear but we certainly felt compelled to pass it on.