The “Kony 2012” documentary about the Ugandan warlord not only reached millions upon millions of social media users on an emotional level (while generating A LOT of hype), it only served as a cautionary tale about what kinds of messages social media campaigns promulgate.

Dr. Sarah Steele and I have researched the subject of social media advocacy in-depth (with the final article coming soon in 2015):

“Admirably, Kony2012 sought to raise awareness about the urgency of the manhunt for Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony and his exploitation of child soldiers in Uganda. The film promoted a key awareness of the issues around bringing warlords to justice. However, the film generated much controversy.

You can read the full blog post here.

And for some additional context, The Guardian has a useful overview of the social media activity surrounding the Kony 2012 campaign: