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KONY 2012 creators release next video on YouTube but direct comments to Waywire

After bringing us the human-rights blockbuster KONY 2012, one of the most viral phenoms the Internet has ever seen, the filmmakers have released their follow-up piece on YouTube. Entitled MOVE, the film’s another attempt to shed light on their campaign against atrocities by Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army in East and central Africa.

But because of issues with Google’s video-sharing blockbuster YouTube and its user-commenting tool, the film’s creators are asking folks to post their comments  at #waywire, a fledgling video-network start-up based in New York.

Viewers can comment to their heart’s delight on the #waywire site, which is targeted toward the younger target audience of Invisible Children, the creators behind the KONY  films.

 #waywire, described by its backers as “a GenY-focused video network where you can discover, create and share the things that are important to you,’’ says it’ll be ready for the expected deluge of viewers tuning in to see the film, which one early-reviewer said in her video-comment “answers a lot of questions raised by the virality of KONY  2012.’’

Criticism has been leveled lately against YouTube by amateur content creators who say they’re being squeezed out of the action by better financed filmmakers with slicker productions and more online clout. Some say the trend poses a dilemma for San Bruno-based YouTube’s owners, Mountain View-based Google. A spokeswoman for YouTube directed me to a Q&A with Chris Carver, the COO of Invisible Children,  at blog.

For #waywire, a start-up still wet behind the ears and enjoying backing from talk-show diva Oprah Winfrey and others, the MOVE event could be its first big break into the world of mass-scale video-sharing.

And the significance of the filmmakers’ decision to tout the film’s premiere on #waywire instead of old-school You Tube won’t be lost on another #waywire investor – Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt.

Go figure.

In any case, here is the new video:

Pat May Pat May (154 Posts)

With more than 30 years on the front line of daily American journalism, I'm currently a staff writer with the San Jose Mercury News, covering Apple and writing people-centric business stories from Silicon Valley.