The importance of posting about animal rights

As someone who cares about animals, I am deeply affected by how unfairly we treat the animals with whom we share our world. Sometimes I come off a little strong, but this is only because I believe this to be a very serious issue, and with so many lives being lost to this unfairness, an empathetic individual can't help but want to get involved.

First, as a disclaimer, I realize that it is easy to go overboard and post story after story after story of animal cruelty. Posting something to show people how cruel people can be has been, for the most part, done to death (even by me), and I try to avoid doing it. Most people are aware of much of the cruelty that is out there, but not everyone is aware of the steps needed to be taken to help end the cruelty. This is why positive posts which encourage people to take the steps needed to change our relationship with the rest of the animal world for the better are much more effective.

I recently caught myself wondering about the opposite end of the spectrum, about vegetarians/vegans who post nothing at all about animal-related issues. I suppose many would say that their diet is their personal choice, and they don't want to be all preachy about it. It all depends on one's perspective. Of course not eating meat or other animal products is a personal choice, but it is a personal choice that is linked to diminishing levels of violence in the world, to lowering the number of innocent animals killed. This is a very important goal, ane even if you want to avoid being preachy, you can still post something, anything, that helps others get on a path that minimizes violence. I guess I just wanted to remind my fellow vegetarians and vegans that we are the voice of the animals of the world. We are the ones who should use our empathy, if we do indeed have it, to try to save lives. If we don't speak for the animals, who will? Some would argue that no matter what you say, you won't change someone's opinion unless that person is willing to change anyway. I would argue that by sharing helpful information, you are helping to create the possibility of that happening. Sitting by passively will change something in your world, but it will do little to change the system. While this might sound unrealistic at first, think of all the social change that has occurred in the world in the past century or so in the areas of women's rights, workers' rights, even animal rights. How much of this would have occurred if people just stood by passively, or only complained about how awful the world was without taking concrete steps to change it?