Fridays for Future (FFF), a significant climate change communication and mobilization movement, utilizes visual communication, particularly on Instagram, to reach wider audiences. This study explores how FFF activists visually narrate climate action on Instagram, focusing on the strategy of personalizing climate change. Personalization, in this context, refers to how individual activists leverage their unique perspectives, stories, and experiences to create a personalized narrative of climate change and activism. This approach contrasts with the often-observed "protest paradigm" in mainstream media, which tends to portray protests negatively. Social media platforms like Instagram offer climate movements the opportunity to bypass traditional media narratives and directly engage audiences with their own stories. The study contributes to the existing literature on visual climate change communication by emphasizing the role of FFF activists as key actors in shaping these narratives, thereby shifting the focus from how mainstream media depicts climate protests to how the activists themselves communicate their message.

Existing research on visual climate change communication often focuses on how mainstream media depicts environmental movements and protests, frequently employing a "protest paradigm" that casts protests in a negative light. This study builds upon the work examining personalization in social media and its impact on social movements, highlighting how personalized narratives can enhance engagement and create collective identity. The role of personalization in making climate messages more credible and relatable, especially to younger audiences, is also considered. While there's existing research on the visualization of climate protests by media outlets, this study emphasizes the importance of recognizing climate activists themselves as significant actors in visual communication. The existing literature on FFF has largely focused on textual analysis; this study uniquely explores FFF's visual communication strategies on Instagram, building on work examining visual communication in social movements.

This study employed an inductive approach using grounded theory techniques and visual thematic analysis. Approximately 400 Instagram posts from major FFF chapters (France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, India, Mexico, and the international account) were analyzed over a three-year period (2019-2022), focusing on periods of global climate strikes to capture moments of peak mobilization. The selection prioritized chapters with a high number of followers to ensure the analysis reflected widely impactful communication strategies. The analysis involved multiple viewings of the posts to familiarize the researcher with the content, followed by categorizing images based on subjects, settings, and actions. This process helped to identify recurring visual themes exemplifying the personalization of climate storytelling. Instagram was chosen because it's a primarily visual platform with a large, young user base—FFF's target demographic—and offers various tools for creating engaging narratives. Initially, the study included self-made collages, but these were later removed due to ethical considerations regarding the use of images found on social media without explicit consent. The lack of human participants and interviews meant ethical approval and informed consent were not required.

The analysis revealed three main themes illustrating how FFF activists personalize their climate narratives on Instagram: 1. **Localizing the effects of global climate change:** Activists use self-made imagery (collages, memes, videos) to connect global climate change to local contexts. They share personal stories and integrate them into a collective identity, linking local initiatives to the global campaign. This strategy helps make the abstract concept of climate change more tangible and relatable for specific audiences, illustrating how climate change affects different communities differently. Examples include activists in Mexico holding video calls with protestors in Colombia, sharing local protest experiences, and highlighting the unique local consequences of climate change and the lack of effective political responses to those crises. 2. **Performing climate messages:** Activists use performances and collages, often incorporating humor and viral trends from platforms like TikTok, to convey their messages. These performances may include dancing, lip-syncing popular songs, or creating memes. This creative approach aims to make complex issues more accessible and engaging, particularly for younger audiences. The study provided an example where an activist from FFF India plays the roles of both an indigenous elder and a scientist to convey the urgency of climate change and the lack of action by governments. The use of memes provides humorous interventions and makes complex climate issues more accessible. 3. **Visualizing contentious politics:** FFF activists use images of both individual and collective action in protests. They show activists making protest signs and participating in large demonstrations. This emphasizes self-efficacy and shows audiences the impact of collective efforts in the fight against climate change. Images of collaborative actions during protests visually communicate that individuals can effectively participate in climate action and affect change through collaboration.

The findings demonstrate that FFF activists effectively employ personalization as a strategic tool to communicate their climate message on Instagram. The three themes identified show how the movement transcends the limitations of the "protest paradigm" often seen in mainstream media. By personalizing narratives, FFF activists make climate change more relatable and urgent, fostering a sense of community and self-efficacy among their followers. This personalized approach also challenges the often-overwhelming nature of global climate change by connecting it to specific local contexts and individual actions. The use of performance and humor in their communication strategies effectively targets a younger audience and enhances engagement. The focus on visualizing both individual and collective action highlights the empowering message that individuals can make a significant difference. The study's findings highlight the crucial role of social media in enabling climate activists to control their own narratives and reach a global audience.

This study highlights the significance of FFF's personalized visual storytelling on Instagram as a powerful tool for climate change communication. The three themes—localizing climate change, performing climate messages, and visualizing contentious politics—demonstrate how activists effectively engage audiences and foster a sense of collective action. Future research could explore other narrative strategies used by FFF, such as visual analogies linking climate change to other global crises, methods for simplifying climate science jargon, and the gendered dimensions of FFF's narratives. Further research on FFF's reliance on large-scale protests and the transmedia nature of its narratives would also provide valuable insights.

The study's focus on major FFF chapters, while providing insights into the most impactful communication strategies, may not fully represent the diversity of visual narratives within the entire FFF movement. The removal of the initial collages due to ethical considerations slightly limits the illustrative value of the analysis. Future research could explore smaller, less visible chapters to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the movement’s visual communication practices.