Slacktivism, clicktivism, or whatever pejorative term you prefer tends to attract a heavy dose of scrutiny these days. Online proselytizing can come across as ultimately self-serving unless the actors have actually been affected by the issues they're outraged over, or at least intend to do something about them. For this renewed skepticism, we largely have Kony 2012 to thank.

In 2012, activist and filmmaker Jason Russell posted a video online as part of a campaign against Ugandan militia leader and wanted war criminal Joseph Kony. Titled Kony 2012, the video accumulated more than 100 million views online in six days, leading Time to designate it the most viral video ever. Then things got weird.

It wasn't long before "Kony 2012" became something of a punchline. Russell and his movement were criticized for misrepresenting the facts and painting an oversimplified picture of the situation in Uganda, and for receiving lots of donations but not actually achieving all that much beyond raising awareness online and propagating flaccid hashtagtivism. As reported by The Guardian in 2013, Russell ran himself ragged trying to defend the campaign to the media and the angry hordes online in the days after the viral explosion, and his mental wellbeing took a hammering, culminating in a very public and very naked mental breakdown on the streets of San Diego. Not metaphorically naked, but buck, stark, birthday-suit nekkid. He was detained and hospitalized, and cited "extreme exhaustion, stress and dehydration" as the cause in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The movement petered out after this, and Kony himself is still said to be at large.