Instagram is one of the most well established and fastest growing social media apps among all demographics. It is often used to share news, grow businesses and networking with other collaborators. When taking into account how freeing the “safe zone” are on instagram posts and stories, it makes it one of the easiest and most beneficial to spread word around.
A huge benefit of using instagram is that it offers a lot of opportunities to provide links to exterior websites as well as other accounts, meaning it is very convenient when it comes to redirecting users to specific destinations. Because of how different the links and calls to action appear on instagram, it makes sure that users are less likely to skip over it and recognise it as a UI feature rather than a decoration.
Facebook is a pioneer of social media, and is currently the most used social media app of 2025. The UI is very forgiving and offers a multitude of options that are beneficial for “business accounts”. The Participatory collective could benefit from the feature of being able to create your own facebook group, since it will create a tight community in which all users would be able to exchange information between each other as well as the collective itself, which has been one of their most sought after goals.
The extra customisation options like the banner also allow for a more interactivity between collective and its users, like by changing the banner to notify of new events or to make them seem more festive depending on which celebration is closest. This helps create a bond with the users, showing that the collective still cares about all the same little things that the users are excited for.
TikTok
Tiktok is modern and very widespread so I have decided to expand the community to tiktok aswell. However, Tiktok is more well known for being an entertainment app and might not get too many serious enquiries.
Tiktok also has a very unforgiving safe zone, as the UI obstructs a great deal of the posts. Working around these restrictions is difficult and limiting, and creating a well rounded hierarchy becomes a chore. In my opinion, it is too much work for too little output since it is not guaranteed that you will reach the correct target demographic who are interested or would benefit from contacting the participatory collective.
Uniform / Merchandise
When hosting in person events or fundraisers, it is vital that the staff stand out amongst the crowd and the users instantly recognise who they are, what they do, and how to get into contact with them. Unlike most other brands which focus on 1 main colour, I considered it to be wise to instead create a brand identity focusing on shape, angle, and colour. The uniform features the same pattern and shape as the website, remaining minimalistic but adding extra defining features in order to create a recognisable identity.
Having an identifiable uniform is also highly beneficial in marketing and networking. Simply posting photos taken during events where the staff is wearing uniforms, or videos where the uniforms are present make people look out for them in real life.
Small articles of clothing like hats for example, can be sold at fundraisers and charity events or given away as prizes. This directly encourages the users to interact with the projects and even contribute financially whilst being rewarded with a physical token of appreciation. This way the users get to have more chances to interact with the collective directly and feel like they are a part of something bigger.
References:
Dixon, S.J. (2025). Most Popular Social Networks Worldwide as of February 2025, by Number of Monthly Active Users. [online] Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/.