When we speak from the heart, and share our own story, we invite others to see the world through our eyes, and to see veganism from a different, and more empowering, perspective.

Watch the next video in the Effective Advocacy series here.

Produced by Beyond Carnism & Vexquisit Studio. Presented by Dr Melanie Joy & Tobias Leenaert.

Please take this short survey about this vegan series

Find out more about Beyond Carnism or CEVA

Do you want to make an impact for animals when you’re on social media? Do you want to leverage the power that’s at your fingertips?

Your ability to disseminate pro-animal, high-impact information and content across the internet comes largely down to your audience. Both the level of interest your audience has in your account - which we'll get to more later in this series - and by the size of your audience itself. For that reason, growth of your following is paramount if you want to maximize your impact. You have a direct incentive to do everything in your power to encourage people to hit that 'follow' button when they land on your profile.

Congrats, some curious people clicked through to your profile! Perhaps you had a post get some shares, or maybe you actively went out and engaged with other accounts and they're now circling back to you. Whatever the reason, you want these individuals to follow you, right? Yes. So how do you ensure they do this? By having a good bio.

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People who are vegan avoid eating and exploiting animals in all parts of their lives. This means that they not only avoid eating meat, dairy, honey and eggs, but they do not participate in horse riding or other activities that exploit animals for human gain, even when that gain does not result in the death of an animal.

The Vegan Society defines veganism as:

"A way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose."

That means that vegans avoid wearing wool or leather, eating eggs, consuming milk or meat, eating fish, and using animals and other sentient beings as part for work or entertainment.

What is a vegan diet?

A vegan diet is a diet that excludes all products that involve the killing or exploitation of sentient beings. That means that people who eat a vegan diet only eat foods made by plants. They do not consume meat, dairy products, honey, eggs or fish.

People...

The definition of sentience is 'the ability to perceive or feel things'. Sentient creatures have the ability to receive information from their environment and to feel and react to that information, whether they show fear, happiness or indifference.

Your dog might display his or her sentience when they react to a doorbell ringing by barking. Your dog is noisily trying to alert you to a change in your environment by barking at you. The same creature might react with happiness when you return home from a day at work. Your dog has missed you and is expressing his or her joy at your return.

Your houseplant, on the other hand, is not sentient and will not react to changes in environment in the same way. Plants react to stimuli, but this is not the same as being sentient. To be sentient, a creature must have a central nervous system and the capacity to perceive an environment and think through reactions.

Are animals sentient creatures?

Yes, animals are sentient. Scientists do not dispute...

If we water the seeds of compassion, justice, and other important values, in others and also in ourselves, we increase the effectiveness of our advocacy and help grow a better world for everyone.

Watch the next video on Effective Advocacy here.

Produced by Beyond Carnism & Vexquisit Studio. Presented by Dr Melanie Joy & Tobias Leenaert.

Please take this short survey about this vegan series

Find out more about Beyond Carnism or CEVA

You are going to influence someone today. A conversation you have with someone on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook today will be a deciding factor as to whether or not that person alters their behavior in the coming days, months, or years. Even if the person you’re communicating with doesn't go vegan overnight, you’re getting the ball rolling. You're planting seeds that will eventually sprout into a new compassionate way of living.

Understanding your audience is crucial to finding success in your efforts for the animals. Identify what kind of messaging is going to work with them. If your audience is younger, they're prime for the 'go vegan' ask. If it’s older people who may be more set in their ways, then a gentler ask, like Meatless Mondays, may be more successful.

Don't get caught in the vegan bubble. Social media is wonderful in many ways, but in one particular way it can be quite counterproductive. It puts us into silos and bubbles with others who...

Many vegan advocates put morality first. But what if putting food first could be even more effective in helping others become open to learning about veganism? Show – don't tell – them the benefits of a vegan diet vs. eating meat.

Watch the next video in the Effective Advocacy series here.

Produced by Beyond Carnism & Vexquisit Studio. Presented by Dr Melanie Joy & Tobias Leenaert.

Please take this short survey about this vegan series

Find out more about Beyond Carnism or CEVA

There are lot of vegan websites and blogs out there to help you with your transition into veganism, or to offer you advice, support and education.

In this article, we'll show you some of the best websites for vegan readers, including those that can help you with cooking, clothing, education, activism, raising vegan children and transitioning to veganism.

Vegan food websites

Vegans love to eat, so you'll find lots of vegan recipe websites on the internet. As this compassionate lifestyle grows in popularity, so too does the number of website dedicated to incredible vegan food.

There are blogs and websites dedicated to all sorts of vegan eating; those that can help you with proper nutrition and fitness goals, as well as those that will teach you to make the best junk-food you've ever eaten in a compassionate, animal-free fashion.

Here are some of the best ones we've found.‍

Vegan Richa‍

On the Vegan Richa website, you'll find all sorts of tasty tips and...

When we discuss the realities of factory farming and the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle, the people we need to focus on aren’t those who already think like us. We need to focus on the general public. The 95 percent+ of the population who are eating animals. They're the ones who need to be won over, so we must cater our message to them.

To all those using social media to speak up for animals, think critically about the way you communicate with the outside world. You aren't just exposing people to the cruel realities of factory farming. You're essentially asking them to completely change their lifestyle. A lifestyle that has been reinforced over decades of eating animals, which is 100 percent acceptable according to social norms. We're making a big ask of people to consider this new way of living, so we shouldn’t discount the enormity of that request.

To create positive change, we must meet people where they are, not where we want them to be. It's likely that just a...

Vegan clothing is clothing that was produced without using sentient beings as part of the production process, either through the use of their skins, or the use of their bodies as part of the manufacturing process.

You might be surprised to learn that many of the materials used to produce clothes people wear every day are not vegan. Vegans cannot wear or use wool, leather or silk, for example.

There are many online and offline retailers worldwide who stock and sell vegan clothes and accessories.

Vegan clothing in the UK

If you're vegan, you're probably as conscious about the clothing you're buying as you are about the food that you eat. At first, it might feel complicated, but don't worry, there is lots of vegan clothing in the UK. You can find items on the high street, or by buying from specialty vegan clothing retailers. You'll also find shoes, socks, and accessories that are vegan-friendly, too.

What is vegan clothing?

Vegan clothing is clothing that's produced without using...