You hate Kony? Oh, you must be so cool

This week’s column was going to consist of reasons not to donate to Invisible Children, in addition to Patrick Beane’s “Stop #STOPKONY” on March 8,  and it was going to be entitled “PHONY2012.”

But then the guy in the video, Jason Russell, was taken into custody by the police for running around San Diego in his underwear and having a mental breakdown.

Upcoming: We set Russell’s son Gavin down at a table, show him the video of his dad losing it.

Whatcha think, Gavin?

In light of Russell’s actions, if you’re still planning on donating to Invisible Children, there’s not much I can say or do to stop you. Go, Cover the Night. That’ll stop Kony. Unfortunately, I’ve now just become the person I hate.

The immediate aftermath of the KONY2012 video’s explosion was a massive outpouring of support.

The immediate aftermath of the outpouring of support was an almost-as-massive backlash, which took two forms.

First, you had the educated critics: the Foreign Policy Magazine piece, the experts calling out misrepresented facts, the Patrick Beanes of the world.

They pointed out many flaws with the video and with Invisible Children.

Second, though, you had the random cynical teenagers who quickly recruited Condescending Wonka and other such Weapons of Mass Virality that presented not thoughtful criticism, but rather, a thoughtless cynicism.

“You can’t change the world by reblogging, reposting or retweeting a video,” they could say. This might be true, but I’m willing to bet it’s not.

Sure, a quick retweet of a video, requiring little thought, might not be the kind of true engagement that results in worlds being changed.

But it does signify something, doesn’t it? It might signify that the person took time to watch the video and that he or she supports the campaign.

It might signify that the person didn’t take time to watch the video, but he or she still supports the campaign.

But for us, the youth of the 21st century, there’s something holy about our Twitters, our Tumblrs, our walls/timelines (get it together, Facebook).

What we express on those mediums might or might not be true, but it’s an accurate expression of how we want our followers and friends to see us.

And when we post something, it indicates to them that they should watch it. The thing spreads if it’s well-made or funny or gross or inspiring or something else special.

Eventually, the video reaches someone who can do something. Sometimes, as is currently the case, the very nature of the video will vastly limit the options of what we can do (“BUY OUR POSTERS AND PUT THEM EVERYWHERE”).

But that doesn’t weaken the magic of public support for a cause.

These thoughtless teenage cynics, though, have recognized the age old truth that it’s cool not to care about things.

So no, let’s not show Gavin the video of his naked father beating the ground and screaming. That would be mean.

And although we don’t have to support Invisible Children, let’s not look down on those who do.

­— shlumorg@indiana.edu