Online advocacy has never been louder than it currently is as the digital age advances. But is it actually working? In this piece, Dinchi Ikpa, Communications Officer at The Comms Avenue, reflects on the gap between digital momentum and real world behaviour change, and why communication, done with consistency, remains the most powerful driver of lasting impact.
Have you ever witnessed someone casually say or do something that would have caused an absolute uproar online, and nobody around you reacted? No one batted an eye. It was taken in stride like the most ordinary thing in the world. Yet you know, with full certainty, that if that same moment had been captured and posted online, the comments would have been flooded within minutes.
We spend so much time scrolling through our feeds, convinced that the world has moved on, that people know better now, that certain things are simply no longer acceptable. And then real life reminds you that the internet and the street outside are not always having the same conversation.
A friend and I had one such moment recently. And it got me thinking — what is the actual effectiveness of online advocacy? The campaigns we run, the posts we put up, the threads we write and reshare. Are they actually moving people, or are they just moving timelines?
First, let us be clear about what online advocacy is.
Online advocacy is the use of digital platforms to raise awareness, shift opinion and drive action around a cause, issue or behaviour. The operative word, the one that separates advocacy from mere trends, is action.
And action does not happen without communication. Effective online advocacy is not just about having a presence or a platform. It hinges entirely on the quality and consistency of the communication behind it. The ability to craft a clear, compelling narrative that meets people where they are, educates them in a way they can receive and then spurs them toward a desired change in thinking or behaviour.
Here’s the interesting thing, the internet creates a very convincing illusion of consensus. When your entire feed agrees, it feels like the whole world agrees. Hashtags trend, posts go viral, comment sections fill up with solidarity. It feels like something is happening. And sometimes, something is. But often, the people engaging with that content already agreed with it before they saw it. You are not changing minds. You are reinforcing existing ones.This is the echo chamber effect.
As comms professionals who are often responsible for the metrics of campaign performance, reporting of projects, documenting behaviour change, and the backend of social media accounts, we inevitably come to a point where we wonder, is this really working or are we just going through the motions?
But here is what people get wrong about this: Behaviour change has never been instant.
It is slow, cumulative and often invisible until it suddenly is not. You do not notice it happening day by day. You notice it when you look back five or ten years and realise that something which was once considered normal is now unthinkable. That shift did not happen overnight. It happened through repeated exposure, changing narratives and consistent communication over time.
Consider Dr Chinonso Egemba, popularly known as Aproko Doctor. The Nigerian medical doctor and health influencer has spent years using humour and storytelling to simplify complex health information for millions of people across Africa. One of his most recognisable campaigns centred on the long-term harms of soft drinks and soda consumption. He was so consistent in making the message accessible and relatable, that “drink water” has since become a colloquial phrase in Nigeria. A medical recommendation turned cultural shorthand. That is behaviour change.
Over time, Aproko Doctor has discouraged unhealthy lifestyle choices, challenged widespread health myths and become a genuinely trusted voice for everyday Nigerians navigating their health. The catch is, none of this happened overnight. He has been at it for over seven years, showing up consistently, refining his storytelling, building trust post by post, campaign by campaign. He is not a one-hit wonder. He is proof that sustained, intentional communication compounds.
And that is the lesson for every comms professional running an advocacy campaign.
One post is not enough. Four weeks is not enough. When it comes to behaviour change, you are playing a long game. It requires commitment, creativity and the discipline to keep crafting narratives that educate, challenge and inspire, even when the metrics feel slow and the momentum is not yet visible.
The gap between what people condemn online and what they tolerate offline is real. But that gap has always existed. The question is not whether advocacy can close it. History tells us it can. The question is whether we are communicating with enough clarity, consistency and intention to actually get there.
Because in the end, the power was never in the post. It was always in the communication behind it.
