Tips For Effective Digital Advocacy – Finding Your Niche

I shared 10 main tips for effective digital advocacy in this previous blog post.

The first tip was;

Define your niche; thematic interest and target audience

Picking a niche can be challenging when there is injustice everywhere and our agency is needed.​​To be an effective digital campaigner, you need knowledge and credibility. Both of these can be built over time but as a starting point, you need to ask yourself;

💡What do I care about the most and why?

💡Do I have any knowledge on this topic?

💡Do I have lived experiences on this topic?

💡What is currently being done on this topic and how can I contribute to the discourse?

💡Whom do I want to impact the most with my work?

When I started Beyond The Lines, it was out of curiosity for knowledge so I could contribute to preventing violent extremism in Mombasa. Violence from the state, the radicalization of peers, and the increasing hate between religious groups were eating up my town. I started reading and writing about it, and sharing stories through my blog. Slowly, I built a small community of readers that enjoyed my work. Over the years, the blog has evolved but the focus has always remained to share stories and simple articles that young people can learn and get inspired to take action. The initiative took about 3 months to conceptualize and at some point, self-doubt almost got to me. What kept me going is I had shared this idea with my sister and friends and every now and then, they would ask me about the progress. They held me accountable.

Mutual Aid Kenya was born out of necessity. At the onset of Covid-19, feeling hopeless about what was to come, I teamed up with a friend to build a network of individuals committed to community care. This was one of those campaigns, in which I did not put much thought into conceptualization and planning. There was a problem that needed to be addressed and that is what we focused on. As we started implementing the campaign, we invited others to join us. We built our network through public education and action, drawing supporters from all over the world. Before we could know it, we had 100+ volunteers, consistent individual donors, and support from organizations.

Starting is always the challenge. So here is another tip, start before you’re ready. There is always a first step you can take to get closer to your goals. Remember, it is about progress, not perfection. No one achieves perfection in their work, even the best of creators, so go on and start today!

Do you have any tips to add or specific questions about the tips shared? Let me know in the comment section. 

This is part of a series of my reflections on digital advocacy shared every Monday on my LinkedIn. Be sure to check out the previous posts on tips for effective digital advocacy.

As always, share this with the youth activists in your network, and let’s learn together.