Instagram was released in 2010, and has been owned by Meta since 2012. Over the past decade, Instagram has developed into a powerful tool for advocacy with its focus on images, many post styles, analytics features, and a large user base.
What kinds of content can I share on Instagram?
Reels: short-form videos
- Ex. You might post a reel that includes a particularly fascinating clip from an interview your group recorded, as well as b-roll of your local community
Stories: photos, videos, text posts, and reposts that disappear after 24 hours
- Ex. You might post a story highlighting an event in your local community the night before or morning of
Highlights: a stored cache of past stories, organized into folders that appear on your organization’s profile
- Ex. A highlight called “About Us” might store a series of text posts that describe your organization’s mission, team, and context
Posts: traditional photos, videos, and infographics that appear on the main feed, in groups of up to 20 slides
- Ex. You might post an infographic sharing basic information about an ongoing issue in your local community, with a call to action (such as a petition) on the last slide.
- Tip: You can pin some posts to the top of your feed. These posts will appear first on your feed, no matter how long it has been since they were posted. You might pin some FAQs about your group, or a post highlighting all the members of your team—something it would be helpful for anyone trying to learn more about your group to know.
Profile: you can embed lots of information about your group within your Instagram profile itself
- Username: either the full or abbreviated name of your group, also called your handle. It is best to keep this consistent across all the social media platforms you use
- Profile Picture: a recognizable logo for your group that is consistent across all the social media platforms you use
- Name: the full name of your group, especially if your username/handle is abbreviated
- Bio: a place to share some basic information about your group—for example, your location and mission
- Links: a spot to link your website, your most recent coverage in the media, the petition you’re trying to get people to sign, etc.
- Tip: You can use an app like Link Tree to create a webpage that includes many relevant links to your group’s work. Instead of linking your website in your bio, you would link your group’s Link Tree webpage, and a visitor could then navigate to anything you’ve linked to that page. To do so, see Whop’s guide for building and maintaining a LinkTree.
Who uses Instagram?
Instagram is mostly used by younger adults, but it is an extremely popular app across the world and among all age groups. It is a great platform for reaching a broad and general audience.
Additional Resources for Instagram
- Buffer’s How to Use Instagram: A Beginner’s Guide
- RallyUp’s How Can Nonprofits Grow & Engage Supporters on Instagram in 2026
- BlueWing’s Using Instagram for Nonprofit Advocacy Guide
- The Modern Nonprofit’s Instagram Strategies for Nonprofits
Facebook was founded in 2004 and was originally only available to college students. Its model of a social media network focused on profiles, sharing of personal updates, and the concept of “followers” and “groups” has been copied by many social networks. Today, Facebook has a broad audience but tends to skew older than most social media networks. The parent company of Facebook is Meta.
What kinds of content can I share on Facebook?
Posts: traditional photos, videos, text updates, links, polls, and infographics that appear on your page’s feed.
- Ex. You might post an infographic explaining an issue your organization cares about, or a photo album from a recent community event.
- Tip: You can pin some posts to the top of your feed. These posts will appear first on your feed, no matter how long it has been since they were posted. You might pin some FAQs about your group, or a post highlighting all the members of your team—something it would be helpful for anyone trying to learn more about your group to know.
- Tip: You can connect your Instagram and Facebook accounts so that when you post content on one, it is also posted on the other.
Stories: photos and short videos that disappear after 24 hours.
- Ex. You might post a story highlighting an event in your local community the night before or morning of
Reels: short-form videos
- Ex. You might post a reel that includes a particularly fascinating clip from an interview your group recorded, as well as b-roll of your local community
What else appears on your Facebook page?
- About: a place to explain who you are and what you do
- Profile picture: usually a logo or recognizable image for your organization
- Cover: a large banner image at the top of your page
- Username: your Page handle, which should be short and easy to remember
- Name: the full name of your organization or group
- Buttons: action buttons like “Sign Up,” “Donate,” “Contact Us,” or “Learn More.”
- Ex. You can use the button to send visitors to your website or fundraiser
- Albums and featured sections: spaces to organize important content for visitors
- Ex. You might create albums for events or use featured sections to highlight campaigns and milestones
Other Facebook features
Groups: community spaces where people can discuss shared interests, ask questions, and post updates
- Ex. You might use a group for volunteers, members, local supporters, or advocates doing similar work in other places
Events: pages for promoting meetings, rallies, workshops, or fundraisers
- You can include time, location, RSVP details, and updates
Marketplace: a place to buy and sell items locally
- You could use this for a community sale, or to share items your group would like to disburse to the community
Fundraisers: tools for collecting donations through Facebook
- Ex. You might raise money for a campaign or program here
Who uses Facebook?
Facebook’s primary audience is older adults. If your target audience skews older, Facebook might be a good platform for you. Or, if you only want to share content with a select group of people, a Facebook group could be the best place to post. There may be existing Facebook groups for community organizing, neighborhood news, and other local happenings; joining these might be useful to reach new community members and local audiences.
Additional Resources for Facebook
- Meta’s Resources and Best Practices for Advocacy Organizations
- Activist Handbook’s Facebook for Activists
X vs. Bluesky
X (formerly known as Twitter) and Bluesky are both “microblogging” platforms, allowing users to share text posts up to around 300 characters with a few photo/video attachments, and allow users to repost other users’ content. Functionally, the apps are very similar.
What kinds of content can I share on X and Bluesky?
Text posts: These are short, max ~300 character text posts that appear on your profile and on the feed or timeline of those that follow you. If your account is public your text posts will also be recommended to people who don’t follow you by X or Bluesky’s algorithm. You can attach up to four photos/videos to each post.
- While there is a character limit for each individual post, you can link posts together in a “thread.”
- Others’ comments on your post, and any comments responding to them, create additional threads underneath a post.
- Tip: You can pin one post at the top of your page.
Reposts: You can repost others’ posts to your page.
- You can also “quote” other posts, which refers to reposting the original post with a new text post attached to it.
What is the difference?
Though the interfaces and features of each app are similar, X has a much larger user base. Bluesky was started much more recently and has a fraction of the users and features.
Bluesky is an open-source app, designed not to be controlled by any one entity, whereas X is owned and operated by Elon Musk. Since Musk’s acquisition of the app, many have criticized the app for its role in the spread of mis- and disinformation, particularly on political topics (including climate change).
Who uses X?
X’s user base is massive—it is a platform where posts have the capacity to reach millions and millions of people. But the platform has lost many users since its rebranding from Twitter to X, in part due to concerns from users regarding the changes put in place since Musk’s purchase of the app.
Who uses Bluesky?
Bluesky’s user base is much smaller than X’s, but many users of Bluesky were drawn to the app because they were unhappy with Musk’s X. Most Bluesky users are politically left-leaning, and in turn might be more primed to agree or positively engage with frontline stories, which is something to consider. Do you want a broader reach, or a more welcoming audience?
Additional Resources
- Social Pilot’s Twitter vs. Bluesky
- Social Movement Technologies Global Community’s Free Course X: Learn how to use it more effectively in your organizing
- ZDNet’s How to use Bluesky
TikTok
TikTok is a very different platform from Instagram, Facebook, and even X. It is video-first, default content being short form vertical videos. It is a platform for visual storytelling, experienced through a “For You” page that allows viewers to quickly scroll through an infinite stream of short videos. The algorithm relies on short attention spans; therefore, in order for content to do well on TikTok, it should immediately grab the viewer with a visual or sonic hook.
Who uses TikTok?
TikTok’s user base is massive, with just over 1.99 billion monthly active users as of February 2025. The app primarily serves teens and young adults, particularly those between the ages of 25 and 34.
Why should my CBO use TikTok?
Because TikTok relies heavily on a recommendation algorithm, as opposed to a feed of the content from accounts you follow, it is possible for content to spread extremely far beyond a creator’s base and demographic.
See our section on creating video content to figure out how to take advantage of TikTok’s algorithm. Additionally, TikTok can create risks and harm in certain communities. For more information, see Media Trust’s Tiktok Moderation for Charities Resource Hub. Ensure additionally that, particularly when working with minors, obtain informed consent from parents or a guardian throughout storytelling processes.
Additional Resources for TikTok
- Volunteer Connection’s How to Use TikTok for Political Advocacy
- Influencer Marketing Hub’s How to Use TikTok: The Ultimate Beginners Guide
LinkedIn is a networking platform that was first created in 2002. LinkedIn is focused on connecting job seekers to employers and helping users keep track of professional networks and make new connections. You might use LinkedIn to reach an audience of experts and professionals—to expand the network of support for your organization in the broader environmental space.
Your CBO can use LinkedIn either with a company page (so, your organization would have an account highlighting your mission, team, and activity) or the personal page of one member of your team, updating their network on the activity of your organization through personal posts. Many organizations do both, leveraging the personal networks of everyone on their team to build a larger network for your organization.
What you might share on LinkedIn—and how you might frame it—is a little different than what you might post on other social media networks. While you can certainly produce educational content for LinkedIn, it’s also a great tool for finding collaborators.
Ex. You might post updates on your group’s research to find an expert willing to help graph your data in an innovating way.
What kinds of content can I share on LinkedIn?
Posts: Short text posts, often with image/video attachments, used to share career updates, valuable insights, and resources with your network.
Ex. You might post a few images from a town hall your CBO recently held with reflections on the process and goals for the future. Someone in your network who is involved with an organization with a mission that aligns with yours might reach out to collaborate, now aware of the cross-section between your organizations.
Articles: Longer-form writing, something like a blog post. LinkedIn articles are housed on your profile and can be shared on your feed.
Ex. You might write a LinkedIn article about your organization’s context, history, and past work, highlighting the niche your group fills and the potential for change in your community.
Tip: While LinkedIn is not a traditional social media platform, its users are still human, with short attention spans. If you post a LinkedIn article, share it alongside a regular post highlighting your key insights. Regular posts, as opposed to articles, lower the barrier to accessing some of the information you want to relay for your network. This means your reach will be wider, even if you won’t be able to include as many details, and those interested can read the full article.
Events: You can create events such as webinars and panels and share them all through the LinkedIn platform.
Ex. Your organization might put together a digital panel with some other groups working on similar issues. You might publish this as an event on LinkedIn and share the opportunity to attend with your network.
Job postings: If you are looking to add a member to your team, you can list the job opportunity on LinkedIn, where interested candidates can apply directly.
Additional Resources for LinkedIn
Lugh Studio’s Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Nonprofits
Nonprofit Tech for Good’s 10 LinkedIn Best Practices
LinkedIn’s LinkedIn for Nonprofits
YouTube
What kinds of content can I share on YouTube?
Videos: YouTube’s video content can range from a few seconds to hours long.
Common formats include vlogs, tutorials, explainers, interviews, documentaries, commentary, and event recordings.
You can add titles, descriptions, tags, thumbnails, chapters, cards, and end screens to help people find and navigate your content.
Shorts: Vertical videos, usually under 60 seconds.
Similar to Instagram Reels and TikTok content.
Who uses YouTube?
Along with Instagram, YouTube is another platform with an enormous audience across many demographics. Though specific content might skew towards particular audiences, YouTube has extremely wide reach as a platform.
Additional Resources
University of Mary Washington’s YouTube Basics Step-by-Step
Substack
Substack is a self-publishing platform that combines blog, newsletter, text-post, and paid-subscription features. Your CBO might use Substack for deeper, longer-form written storytelling, or for a weekly newsletter to update followers on issues related to your community. Substack is also a way to get donations through reader subscriptions. You can start a newsletter with a paid subscription option, where subscribers can spend a few dollars a month to receive additional content.
Who uses Substack?
Substack’s user base is comprised of writers and readers. The writers are often independent journalists and essayists, offering news alternatives as well as social and political commentary. It is also common for advocates to use Substack as a platform for advocacy, educating readers on the reality of a frontline community’s situation. Substack readers might be looking for longer form writing on more specific subjects and might be a good audience for more densely loaded storytelling.
Additional Resources for Substack
Nonprofit Tech for Good’s Substack for Nonprofit Communications
The Campaign Workshop’s Is Substack for Nonprofit Communications Worth It?
DownStack’s How to Start a Substack Newsletter: The Complete Setup Guide
Nextdoor and other community-oriented ways of communicating
Social media platforms with open user bases, where anyone can access what you share and forward it to a friend, are great tools when your intended goal is broad reach. But maybe you have a more specific audience in mind.
What if there is a specific group of people you want to reach?
Nextdoor (a social network with forums restricted to community members) community email listservs, local Facebook groups, and library bulletin boards (digital and physical) are all great options.
Ask around your community to see what most people use to communicate! Some communities rely heavily on Facebook groups, for example, and don’t use Nextdoor at all. The only way to figure out which of these options is best for you is to ask around.
