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I'm not one for jumping on social media slactivist bandwagons, so feel comforted knowing this is something I consider very important to everyone (ASPD sufferers excluded), on levels far beyond the immediate intent of the cause. I'm not saying my opinion is worth more than others, just saying I don't normally do this. The rules of engagement used in this video can be applied to everything.

The effort put into this already goes so far beyond the usual facebook 'change your status for one hour' vacant attempts at raising awareness. This is an update which really gets people to actually do something.

For me, it's also a call for people to use their voices more wisely where causes are concerned. I'll use cancer as an example, as I have personal experience with it. Raising the awareness of how to deal with cancer is great ...but posting a notice for one hour saying 'cancer exists, go tell someone' doesn't actually change anything. Added to the status usually comes a 'I know who will post this and who won't, I hope I'm right about the people who will' statement, which, if I'm completely honest, is disgusting. I could go into town with the usual facebook status printed on a board and walk about for one hour. People would probably give me some funny looks, others ignore me completely, but no one will have an increased knowledge of cancer, or how to deal with it. If I set up a stall however, with information, pictures, stories, videos all relating to cancer and the attempt to find a cure, people will actually take notice. I can't sit at home and create a cure for cancer, and changing my status for one hour to 'raise awareness' in the facebookverse, amongst 425million other fleeting daily user status updates just isn't going to change a thing (except perhaps how people subscribe to my status updates). People are aware of cancer, try posting a link to instructions of how to check yourself for signs of cancer, or an emotive story of how it has affected you, or a link to a donations page of a cancer charity. My line of reasoning should not be taken as dismissive or arrogant, but those updates are often overlooked. I know cancer is an issue for people everywhere: I've lost someone close in a very short period of time from diagnosis and the effects for all involved are harrowing, and I'm not saying don't advocate the fight against it, I'm just saying make it count. You have a world stage, and if you say something the right way, people will actually save it in their memory, rather than just copy/paste it.

So, next time you have a break, just make a cup of tea and sit and watch the following video, then, if you like, share in any other medium you can access. I think a lot of people don't feel truly empowered at all, which is natural, it's how governments and companies and authorities would prefer you feel about things (even companies offering choice, usually do so on the back of 'must-have' products), but we put them where they are and if we can make them see the world is looking together, listening together, talking together, feeling together and acting together, then it could make them a little more motivated to clear up their own backyards, too, as well as those of places further afield.

*hugs*



EDIT: It turns out this cause isn't as clear on the issues as the video suggests. There are many people speaking out about this in affected areas who say Kony just isn't even active there anymore. Do your own research before pledging anything to this cause.