An Instagram persona and fake account had been created by advertising agency BETC for Addict Aide's awareness campaign on alcoholism and addiction. The account aimed to present someone whom you'd likely to meet everyday but would never be suspected of being an addict. Most if not all of her pictures showed her holding a drink hinting at her alcoholism.
A detailed strategy was created in order to perfect the account which was rooted "in native Instagram content and habits". The usage of hashtags, bots, key influencers in Instagram and research on fashion bloggers was one, for example, the look and tone of her post was influenced by the filters used by fashion influencers and bloggers.
Time posting was also strategised to be during high traffic during the morning, lunch and late nights when people are most active on Instagram and up to 30 hashtags were used to ensure that it will be seen by a wide range of people.
I think the concept and how the theme was tackled was very effective in a way as it clearly shows just how much social media can be manipulative and normalise certain actions and problems through usage of filters, app features etc. It masks the problem people have and want to hide giving them the ability to create themselves a new virtual life.
The results of the campaign however, wasn't how they expected as most people didn't realise the addiction part, however it did show just how much social media can be used to influence our opinions and thoughts on others.
Referencing this to my own theme I think looking into how algorithms may be useful, or researching on how hashtags and certain features may connote certain tones and aesthetic which help portray a certain image and how this might be used in a manipulative way.
- Maybe create an app that showcases these features
- Create an app were the features are the opposite of what their supposed to do?
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