Likes Don’t Save Lives: Escaping the Echo Chamber in Social Impact Comms
In social impact work, communications too often gets treated like an afterthought. We’re tackling the world’s toughest problems—global health, hunger, poverty, racial and gender inequities—so who cares about an Instagram caption or a LinkedIn post, right?
Wrong. The private sector has always known the truth: storytelling is survival. Marketing and branding aren’t “nice to haves”—they’re the engine that keeps businesses alive. Just look at the numbers: in the U.S. alone, brands are projected to spend nearly $420 billion on advertising in 2024—because they know if you’re not seen or heard, you don’t stand a chance.
And in our world, it’s no different. Whether we’re fighting for funding, pushing for policy change, or trying to get the world to wake up to a crisis, visibility isn’t optional. If our stories don’t break through, we risk losing more than market share—we risk losing lives.
“If we’re all just bouncing the same messages off of one another and not reaching new audiences, then what is it all for?”
The danger is when even the orgs that do take comms seriously stop short. Too often we end up talking to ourselves—reposting, retweeting, clapping for one another in a neat little loop. It feels good, sure.– if we’re all just bouncing the same messages off of one another and not reaching new audiences, then what is it all for?
It’s easy to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done when a post gets the engagement we wanted, but are we all just liking each other’s posts and congratulating each other? As affirming and valuable as this support system is, truly, what change are we actually making if we don’t break out of our own bubble?
Echo chambers don’t save lives. Echo chambers don’t shift power.
“We can’t sit back and wait for those outside of our networks to listen to us – there are too many lives at stake.”
Meanwhile, the stakes could not be higher. : from USAID cuts to the genocide in Palestine much of the world is either ignoring or actively supporting, getting our messages out there has perhaps never been more crucial in the International Development sector.
We can’t sit back and wait for those outside of our networks to listen to us – there are too many lives at stake. We need to find new ways to reach the people who need to be convinced, not just the ones already nodding along. It means moving beyond “raising awareness” to sparking action. so that the world really notices these atrocities engendering support for the people that are in greatest need.
With all this in mind, how do we go about being more effective about how we communicate so that we actually reach those who need convincing? How do we ensure that these messages turn into tangible changes and action?
Every dollar, every hour, every ounce of energy matters. Social impact organisations can’t afford to waste them on comms strategies that just keep us comfortable. We need comms that disrupt, that push past the noise, that force people to see what they’d rather ignore.
Because at the end of the day, comms isn’t decoration. It’s not fluff. It’s one of the most powerful tools we have—and it’s time we use it to break the bubble, so we can all make the impact we are striving for. Hear more from us on this below.
