For this project I have been given a client and have been tasked to analyze him on a digital platform. For the time being, my client only has a Facebook to create his digital footprint[1]. My job as a consultant is to analyze and or alter this footprint. My client is an International Studies major that aims to create a digital identity that exhibits his competence for his potential career field (the army) while using visual modes and pathos to persuade his audience in his strong family relationships. First I plan to analyze how Manny pieces together different Aggregates (i.e. liked pages) to mold his digital identity to his audience(s). Then I will talk about my client’s visual effectiveness utilizing the visual mode on his Facebook profile to reach to prove his more evident aspect of his digital footprint, family. If my client maintains these characteristics of pathos in his digital identity he will definitely leave a progressive and strong digital footprint to his audience while attracting potential employers.
My client presents aggregates from different subjects and varying backgrounds in which he has connected with his projected audience. On the Facebook page of my client it offers a visual layout that allows the audience to retrieve additional information that’s not available on his timeline (i.e. friends, additional photos and more). The “More” section is a way for my client to share his interest and possible goals by liking specific pages. Manny’s most recent likes is the “U.S. Army” page. Although liking this page was just a simple click of the mouse, it is a career savvy move on his part. According to business2community.com Facebook pages have the ability to access the account of the users who like their page. This would in turn possibly allow his potential employers in his career field to get access to his profile and start the recruiting process early by way of his Facebook profile. It also states that “You can also choose to get notifications each time the page posts, if you really like what they share” (Roark). This page makes updates every couple hours from visual to linguistic to even aural to compliment the visual modes on this page. Being up to date is arguably one of the most important aspects in the digital world. The decision that my client has made to receive these notifications persuades his “intended audience” (Arola, pg. 22) to truly believe that his digital as well as physical persona are parallel to those of the U.S. Army page.
“Researchers have found that visual evidence (like photos or videos) makes information more believable to audiences” (Arola, pg. 58). That being said visual sources, like movies, according to the research are probably the most powerful and effective way to reach the audience. This research has taken me to my client’s “Movies” tab. Manny has liked the movie American Sniper which most likely means that he has seen it and knows the background. This, once again, shows his potential employers what type of career field he might be interested in; since the movie is based on a true story about an American sniper in the military.
Through Manny’s liked pages we can see that he offers his audience very diverse types of information. My client not only likes pages that are military based but he also likes things that pertain to him as a person. “Sometimes authors overlook diversity when considering sources, which can affect the credibility of their text with audiences”(Arola, pg. 59). By liking a variety of pages my client has establish some ethos with not only his intended audience but also his secondary and actual audiences. He likes the following pages to attend to his secondary audience: “Lexington, Virginia”, “The Cadet Newspaper”, “Virginia Military Institute”, and “VirginiaMil Guard”. These page likes mainly relate to his friends; more specifically the ones my client has made in college. My client also likes more broad pages that show his more personal side like “Coca-Cola”, “Kanye West”, and “Chipotle Mexican Grill”. These pages allow his intended and secondary audience to learn more about him while establishing connections with the actual audience; everyone who sees it.
The next, more evident, thing that works for my client is his visual effectiveness that is publicized on his timeline. Manny presents his secondary audience with a cover photo of him and his younger brother. By my client setting this as his cover photo he takes advantage of the visual mode. He first takes advantage of the default layout of Facebook by being fully aware that this picture will be the first thing his secondary audience will see. Manny also connects with his secondary audience by realizing that the Facebook cover photo offers size as a visual mode. Size is important because the larger something is the more attention it will get. These two aspects of the visual mode persuade his audience to believe that he has a strong family relationship.
My client also makes use of gestural modes to produce pathos within his audience. Manny changed his profile picture October 18, 2015. In this picture is his father and little brother. Now days in the digital world users take a variety of photos with a variety of facial expressions from duck face to funny faces to not smiling at all to possibly emphasize another feature. My client as well as the others in this photo have elected simply perform a traditional smile. This shows he is happy and content in being with his family. This picture also shows the usage of hand gestures. My client rest his hand on the right shoulder of his father. He has shown the audience the strong bond of this relationship through simple contact such as this one. He also builds pathos with the audience. By touching his father on the shoulder it also establishes compassion within their relationship as well as the minds of his audience.
Today it is nearly impossible to function without technology. This then creates the need for a digital identity; whether it be through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other form of social media that allows you to connect with others. My client has first showed positive traits to his possible employers by simply liking pages that cater to his career goals and personal interest. In the future this will allow his intended audience (army) to learn more about him via digital identity during the recruiting process. Manny’s specificity and location of his photographs on his Facebook profile show his ability to not only use visual and gestural modes but to also establish pathos with his audience.
Works Cited
Arola, Kristin, Jennifer Sheppard, and Cheryl Ball. “What Are Multimodal Projects? & Working with Multimodal Sources & Analyzing Multimodal Projects” Writer/Designer. Boston | New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014. Print
Bloch, Manny. “Profile Picture.” Facebook. October 18th, 2015. [November 16, 2015. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201084098981308&set=a.1180390406606.20864.1733562415&type=3&theater
[1]A digital footprint is the word used to describe the trail, traces or “footprints” that people leave online. <www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/digital_footprint.html>