There's no denying the fact that doctors and nurses have been invaluable in our battle against Coronavirus. They have been working morning, noon and night at isolation wards, looking after patients with the infection. Students of Amity University, Mumbai, prompted by their contribution, decided to honour them through an Instagram filter. The campaign is called I Salute and BSc student Puneet Baviskar is the brainchild behind it.
In February, Puneet had created an Instagram filter for his college fest which had become quite popular. "When the lockdown began, I wanted to do something to contribute as a student. There was a need to spread awareness about the virus and also about those working on the frontlines," he says, adding, "Since we can't go out and extend our support, I thought about using social media for the purpose and decided to create an Instagram filter."
So, how did Puneet develop it? "I took suggestions from my college's marketing team. The main challenge was to develop the design and I used a software developed by Facebook called Spark AR studio to create the filter," says Puneet. The filter became quite popular and was used over 17,000 times by Instagram users. "The main idea behind developing this filter was to show my support and inform people about the contribution of the doctors and that they needed to stay inside while they were fighting against the virus outside," says the youngster.
Puneet says that he received support from his friends and the college to develop it. "While I had conceptualised this filter, my friends and the college helped promote it," says Puneet. Social media influencers have a huge role to play in shaping opinion and spreading awareness, feels Puneet. "I am learning about how to generate more such content that can help people in the society," he adds.
