Kony 2012: How could outing a bad man for doing bad things go so very badly?

When the KONY 2012 thing started showing up on my Facebook page by folks who I know spend very little time on Facebook and aren't quite savvy about the many ways and means that social media can fool you, I ignored it. I ignored it in the same way that I ignore other annoying Facebook apps like Farmville, Truths about you, etc. But the 100th time, I paid attention as it was associated with a group that I am somewhat familiar with and whom I actually respect, Invisible Children, or at least I thought I did.

Before this successful digital marketing campaign, Invisible Children was a reputable charity. Its tactics had only been questioned in fairly scholarly journals. The fact that it has been accused of misrepresenting the facts to get its point across? I had not heard anything. I, like most lazy Americans, showed my support for the organization by clicking a like button then went on about my day.

But the irony here is that the firm responsible for Kony 2012 brought so much visibility to Invisible Children that every skeleton in their closet is now being trotted out in the digital square. And the sad thing is that the message behind the viral video that sparked such interest is getting consumed by the scandal.

Here is the video:


How could outing a very bad man for doing very bad things go very badly?