What Happens To Kony 2012 After Jason Russell's Public Meltdown?

Jason Russell

I’m sure you heard of what happened to Jason Russell, the guy behind the ultra viral Kony 2012 video, over the weekend. He had an embarrassing mental breakdown due to physical and mental exhaustion (according to his wife) in San Diego and is now being held by the police for psychiatric reasons.

After the thirty minute video became super viral on Vimeo and YouTube, there were many who attacked his organization Invisible Children for over-simplifying the issue in Uganda and not being fully transparent about its management of donated funds. Russell took those attacks personally.

The video, which shined a light on the horrific acts of Joseph Kony and his army of kidnapped children, was viewed over 100M times. It was retweeted on Twitter and shared/liked on Facebook millions of times.

Since the video featured Russell (and his five-year-old son), it instantly made him a celebrity and the spotlight turned on him. And like all of Mitt Romney’s presidential challengers (except Rick Santorum), Russell just couldn’t handle the spotlight.

He was naked and under the influence of alcohol - or drugs or both. He also reportedly masturbated in public. Reportedly, he hadn’t slept for the previous nine days leading to the meltdown.

You know what they say - be careful what you wish for.

Having the media - tv, radio, print, and internet - tear apart your work is hard to handle. Especially with blogs and internet forums, it can get very personal. I find that, having managed a huge message board before, the best thing to do is to just walk away for a while. Don’t take anything personally and don’t get baited into a flame war. Just respond to the main issues, let it simmer, and walk away. Don’t put anymore wood into the fire.

That’s easier said done. If it’s that easy, Russell wouldn’t have collapsed in a such a grand fashion.

What happens now with Kony 2012 now that Russell has been publicly embarrassed and hospitalized? Probably nothing. Like what some of the analysts said, Kony’s army has been diminished and hasn’t been very active in the last six years. The point of the video was to make Kony famous, and now he is. Sure, he’s still lose and about, but for all intents and purposes, he’s kinda neutered.

Jason Russell is also famous. Maybe after some much needed rest, he can straighten out his organisation’s finances and his life.

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