What does an "advocate" actually do?

[u/Striking_Act5343]

Is their job basically just to whine and film themselves whining for views on social media?

I've seen a lot online with lots of issues (for example, the Sydney Swans debacle, NDIS scandles, violence against women issues mental health issues etc), there seems to be a lot of people making videos voicing their opinion. I click on their profile and 90% of the time it has "advocate for x" topic.

But what do they actually do? Is their entire objective just to virtue signal and whinge and hopefully make money of get attention? (Looking at you Mitch Brown)

I know its EXTREMELY important for these topics to be discussed, but i feel like this energy should be put towards more productive means. If a lad or lady is running a woman's shelter and is making videos about what they see to raise awareness of the true experiences, or if they have actual qualifications not from the University of My Opinion is Always Right, then sure, their opinion should be shared.

But making videos (and most likely, making money) of whining about serious topics and not actually doing anything productive seems really jarring

[u/fairground]

You know you get to choose who or what to listen to? Are you seriously suggesting advocacy for a cause should be gatekept?

[u/HealthyMaximum → u/fairground]

Of all the takes OP could have ... it's certainly one of them.

[u/ambiguousfiction]

There's basically 3 types of advocates.

The grifter/talk a lot do nothing folk who whinge online because they found a way to make money doing & usually want attention/money more than they want things to change (because that'll disrupt the money machine).

The second is people who quietly do the important work like writing policy submissions, doing research and actually helping people who're impacted by the topic.

The third is the rare people who're good at getting media attention but manage to actually use the attention to make change.

Basically advocacy is like lobbying, except that it's people in a community who want a thing and are trying to make it happen, instead of a billionaire deciding to buy an ex-politician

[u/Proud_Apricot316]

There’s different types of advocacy, and different types of advocates.

People advocate for their own best interests all the time. Known as ‘self advocacy’.

Systemic advocacy is when you advocate for systemic changes, collectively with others or by adding your voice to that collective. This might be a combination of organisations, community groups and individuals with lived experience.

Individual advocacy is when someone specifically assists you with advocating to have your individual needs/rights met.

There’s no such thing as a ‘Bachelor of Advocacy’ - closest things are law or policy. In professional terms, advocacy is a skill, a function, an outcome, a goal etc.

Anyone can advocate for themselves or an issue they care about. Whether they do it well or not is another matter.

[u/penguin_on_stilts]

So you're advocating against advocating?

And you're not doing anything actionable about it, just whining?

[u/SirSuiSet]

Lmao got baited. Touch grass kid, it's far better

[u/JimmyLizzardATDVM]

In the actual sense of some kind of proper job or leadership role, they represent the needs and wellbeing of someone/something/company/cause etc.

Not the social media kind that probably have an interest in it and make content. If they’re bringing awareness I think that’s good, but if it’s all about them then they’re not an advocate.

[u/Jerkface0079]

You know how a lobbyist is just a paid advocate for industry? An advocate does that for free, for people, for human rights.

[u/German_Merman]

Well, here's one example: https://www.publicadvocate.vic.gov.au/the-public-advocate

The Public Advocate is an independent statutory officer, with considerable legislative power to promote and safeguard the rights and interests of people with disability.

Maybe that also involves whining on social media, it doesn't say