Color Palette and Imagery
The character in the digital story is Jam, a single mother of a two years old boy. Although she is quite busy taking care of her son after the divorce, she also takes care of stray animals in her home. She has almost 20 such animals that she has devoted her life to caring for. She is a good and generous woman who left her work at a non-profit organization as an investment bank manager to take care of her child and the animals. She has always rescued stray animals all her life, which has led to her decision to create the AG Account and promote the adoption of animals. The account follows the life of Jam, and she dedicates her life to taking care of her son and the animals. While Jam hopes that the IG profile and regular feeds will help people adopt animals instead of buying them, she expects that it will help secure a safe and loving environment for the rescued pets.
Color palette and mood board decisions (shapes, images, emotions) played a crucial role in portraying my character on IG (see figure below). The choice of the color palette was essential to make the IG profile attractive and to tie the shapes and images together (Kim and Kim 1494). I used colors to attract followers and viewers interested in the photo and maintain it long enough to read and receive the message. I picked an existing color palette to create the shapes and images and create a positive emotion among viewers. I also ensured that I chose colors that fit with the shapes and images. To create the right emotion, I chose colors that were not too bright or too dull.
Character Evolution
The character developed from the first description of their character traits through their final expression in Week 6’s IG feed. The evolution played a critical role in growing to ensure that the character persuaded more people to accept and support her course. A growth process emanates from learning about the social media platform and the areas to emphasize to gain more following. The character traits of a protagonist are vital since they are what the followers and viewers see from the feeds (O’Donnell 132). Thus, the character should emphasize traits that persuade the followers to follow her cause. Some of the traits evident in character initially were her courage, energy, passion, and warmth. From the initial feeds, she revealed her passion for animals. While she also demonstrated her loving and patient nature, she has always been passionate about rescuing and providing animals’ homes. By the end of week 6, the character had grown and learned which traits would continue increasing her following and gaining more people to adopt and give a home to rescued animals. By the end of the sixth week, the traits I emphasized were confidence, passion, caring, warmth, compassion, and affection.
I have learned some crucial lessons from some of my peers regarding character evolution in IG. One of the peers’ feed that I admired is @mia_thebaker (see screenshot below).
One of the reasons I admire the feed is the display of the content. The feed is clear about what the user markets and how they want the audience to see. Another lesson I have learned from a peer’s story and would like to incorporate in my story is the importance of passion in what the character does. It also reveals my passion for baking. I have learned from the feed the importance of focusing on the most important elements of what the business is all about. I should emphasize creating the best possible content on the subject I speak about. It is also essential to use the most appealing images, pics, and colors to make the content attractive (Casaló 512). Such profiles and feeds attract and retain the attention of the audience and are more convincing. After looking at my peer’s IG profile, I have realized the need to change some aspects to improve mine (screenshot below).
My IG Log @jam.beautypets
I will include more aspects of what I would like the followers to see and be persuaded to support my course. For example, I would explain my intention to have people adopt and help me to take care of the dogs.
Character and Archetype
The archetype role similar to Jam is the character Albus Rowling from my favorite movie Harry Potter. Albus is a fictional character in the series which is the Wizarding School’s headmaster. He is revealed to have the same qualities as Jam, The Ruler, and The Mentor. He is a founder and leader of an organization in the story, just like Jam. The story also shows that he is brave, responsible, patient, confident, capable, selfless, and nature-loving. It is with passion that he leads the school to make the wizards improve their abilities. The same confidence is revealed in Jam, who gave up her opportunity to take care of her children alone. She even set up a non-profit organization to rescue stray animals.
The similarity between Jam and the character is that they are both rulers and have excellent leadership abilities. Albus is revealed to have the ability to create an organized organization. Like the character, Jam was an excellent businesswoman, working in the financial industry, where her performance was excellent for many years. Although she quit her work, she created an organization to take care of stray animals, just like Albus cared for the welfare of the wizards.
Both of them are also mentors. Mentorship means relying on them to do their best as they prepare for the journey ahead and commit to their value. Albus worked as a mentor to wizards, while Jam’s Day job was caring for her family and stray animals. Thus, the two characters have a strong “Mentor” prototype. They are sensitive to the needs of others and spend their time and energy to improve their well-being.
Instagram in Narrative Context
Another person in the IG space with the same goals as Jam is Fatima Khizran (see screenshot below for the profile). In this case, the goals are the same as those of the other characters in the story, including the love for stray animals and the efforts to have them adopted and offered a safe and caring home. These two people find joy in caring for stray animals, including giving them a home and food. While they mainly care for stray animals subjected to cruelty, they both acknowledge that they have always had a passion for caring for helpless and needy animals. For instance, many dogs around them lack food and shelter because their owners do not care about them. Some people have compassion for animals just like they do towards people (Franklin 72). They have a personality that draws them to care for animals that need their care and help overcome atrocities and trauma from being neglected and even physically abused. The Jam’s and Fatima Khizran’s profiles have something in common and shared strategies to advance their cause. Firstly, they show relentless focus for stray animals, especially cats and dogs. The love for animals is too strong that Jam even left her well-paying full-time job to spare some time to take care of her daughter and the stray animals. They communicate passion as a way of convincing others to do the same. Thus, besides having other commitments, such as caring for their children, they spend time and resources caring for and feeding these stray animals. They even pay for the medical attention of the animals when they are unwell and try to show others the obligation to help the needy and helpless creatures. They recognize that animals depend on humans for their survival and sustenance. Thus, their common goal is to provide this care, help, and pay attention to the animals that need them. Unlike many people, they recognize the importance and use their profile to remind the world why it is essential to care for helpless creatures.
“Instafamous” from IG is one of the trending goals for all Instagram feeds. When people create their IG feed, they intend to gain a mass amount of followers to become an influencer (Kováčová). I watched an Instagram influencer – @Rileybeann, and another from a YouTube clip – United Societies of Balkans NGO, to understand how Instafamous works. I would close out the Instagram feed due to a lack of following. If the profile does not attract a following for days, I would not have a reason to keep it. On the contrary, I could also alter the feed to provide a traditional climax and a resolution to their efforts. I would do this by changing content, images, or pics. I would also use an influencer to convince the audience to follow and even adopt one of my animals.
The Instagram Log
@mia_thebaker
@jam.beautypets