Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Implications Of Viral Media & Advocacy: Kony 2012, Cassandra Bopp

Honors Projects in Communication

This research paper analyzes the video “Kony 2012” as an example of advocacy film making and viral media. By analyzing critical sources, I draw conclusions as to why this video became the most viral video of all time and how other advocacy groups can use this phenomenon to learn about viral advocacy media. Using data from LexisNexis Academic, I track the popularity of “Kony 2012” via different forms of media (blogs, news articles, etc.) and compare my data to prior research conducted on social media sites. Ultimately, I will find that several key characteristics can be pinpointed as the primary …