Social Media Changing the World: Kony 2012

*Update! The Kony 2012 video just became the most viral video in history with 100 million views in 6 days. Read more here: http://mashable.com/2012/03/12/kony-most-viral/

If you have ever doubted the power of social media to help change the world, then this blog post serves to change your opinion.

On Monday, March 5th, Invisible Children, a nonprofit organization that stands against the use of child soldiers in Africa, uploaded a moving and powerful video on the Lord’s Resistance Army Leader, Joseph Kony. The purpose of this video as stated by Invisible Children “aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.”  Today, March 8th, the video now has nearly 37 million views, and counting…

I don’t want to give too much away, because the video is meant to be watched and not summarized. Invisible Children proves that with the power of young people, social media, and a need to help make a better world, a simple click of the button “share” on Facebook can assist in creating an absolute revolution against the number one worst war criminal in the world.  In 2011, Invisible Children used the power of social media and the efforts of supporters world wide to make the problems in Africa known and it resulted in President Obama agreeing to send troops to Africa to provide assistance to regional forces that are working toward the removal of Joseph Kony.  The Kony 2012 campaign serves to demonstrate to the U.S. government that the people care, and if we do not show that we care, the mission in Uganda will be cancelled. Kony abducts children, forces boys to murder their parents, forces young girls into being sex slaves, teaches these children how to mutilate people, and worst of all, brainwashes them into thinking this is the correct way to live. Just this month so far, Kony as abducted 53 children. If 53 children were abducted in the U.S. in the last 8 days, the story would be front page news on every magazine and newspaper.

The video urges people to take make Joesph Kony known. Not because it will help America, and not because it will help any of us personally but because, as human beings, we can’t let one person destroy a country’s entire population of children. One part of the video I find most interesting is when the narrator of the video and Invisibile Children co-founder, Jason Russel, interviews his own son on the issue. To see this issue from an American child’s point of view puts things into such a simple perspective. Take a look for yourself and help spread the message!

A Movember to Remember

Now that I am a wife, it is my obligation to support my husband in his endeavors, regardless of how unattractive he may become as a result. As the queen of competition – especially when it comes to fundraising for a good cause – I am urging you to pay attention to this post. 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. Think about a groom with 5 groomsmen, one of those men will inevitably have to endure the harsh reality that is prostate cancer.  Therefore, the month formerly known as November, has become Movember, which is dedicated to growing mustaches and raising awareness and funds for men’s health. I was not too keen on the idea of my husband, Ron, having a full on, creepy, seventies looking, molester type mustache during our FIRST month of marriage but as long as I know it’s for a good cause, I will make do.  And yes, we are having Thanksgiving with my family this year.

I wanted to write this blog post because I have not seen the support through social media that this initiative deserves. The only other buzz I have read about for Movember is Mashable’s post –  “Mr. Clean to Grow a ‘Stache for Movember”

In an effort to support the cause, we encouraged our clients to grow mustaches – check out Kernel Season’s new stache (and like Kernel Season’s on Facebook while you’re at it!)

The Movember site – dedicated to the cause does not even have links to social sites. Take it from the Susan G. Komen site – social media links are a must when it comes to promoting awareness. People like to promote a social conscience also known as bragging about having made a donation. I must say, I was disappointed when I donated to Ron’s Movember effort and there was no prompt to post my donation to Facebook, let alone tweet about it. I will have to draft my own tweet – “I just donated $50 to the Movember  Foundation in support of changing the face of men’s health!” IF YOU want that socially responsible tweet in your own feed – DONATE NOW:  at http://mobro.co/Liberman. PLEASE CLICK “DONATE TO ME”

My hubby took it to the extreme with his trucker-esque mustache!

If you’re feeling like earning some year end Karma points, donate today, grow your own mustache (ladies, take a month off of waxing that upper lip) and spread the message by using this link.

OR if you just want to see how creepy Ron and his coworkers look during November – click here

Osama Bin Laden found in Abbottabad is Notta Bad for Social Media.

Where were you when JFK died? Where were you when the World Trade Centers collapsed?  And now another memorable one for Americans, where were you when you found out Osama had been captured & killed? It used to be that we would find out from a friend watching the news or overhear someone talking about it. Now thanks to Twitter & Facebook, it is safe to say this is where most people will remember hearing about the significant moments in history.  Below are some statistics that can give you a better understanding on what was happening on the Internet that fateful Sunday night.

-From a poll posted on Mashable.com,  31% found out about Osama’s death on Twitter and 20% found out on Facebook.; both mediums beating out T.V., text, and other sources.

-12.4 million tweets about Bin Laden were sent out per HOUR.  And 3,000 tweets were sent out per SECOND between the hours of 10:45 p.m. and 2:20 a.m. ET.

-Foursquare users are creating check-ins like “Osama’s Grave.”  Also, an Osama joke has already been circulating:  “Looks like Osama Bin Laden signed up for Foursquare on the wrong day.“

-There are currently over 474,000 “Likes” for the Facebook page “Osama Bin Laden is Dead” and has increased by 167 since I began writing this post.

-There were over 13,000 videos uploaded to YouTube-mostly of reporters as well as cities where huge celebrations were taking places.

-“Bin Laden” searches on Google were up 1 Million percent on Sunday night.

-13 Minutes elapsed Sunday night between the first tweet credited with breaking the news of Osama bin Laden’s death, and the change to his online Wikipedia entry reflecting that he had died.