Nothing attracts modern people more than the Internet, mobile technology, and social media. “Gram It, First Lady!” zooms-in a distinct breakthrough of the Indonesian First Lady, Ani Yudhoyono, on her move to join the cutting-edge social media – Instagram – community. The study looks at Ani Yudhoyono’s photograph journal during the years she served as the First Lady of Republic Indonesia (FLORI), from April 2013 to October 2014, which she posted on her authorized Instagram Account (Instagram.com/aniyudhoyono). Through conducting a yearlong ethnography observation on the Instagram and semiotic analysis towards the purposive sampling from FLORI’s Instagram, 1560 representative photographs were gathered and being classified inside out of the context. Thus, six image-based communication patterns are found as the implicit mythemes; denoting identity, recognizing achievements, providing authentic evidence, preserving her tangible possessions, making her own encyclopedia, and having a sentimental nostalgic throwback. The research concludes that FLORI’s meaning-making process through the photo-sharing activity on Instagram signifies a gesture of grandstanding by engaging and communicating with the people through the curated visual elegance of her. Consequently, as an exceptional public figure in Indonesia, her image shall represent the contemporary culture and visual communication pattern of modern society, particularly, of Indonesian people. The researcher would suggest future studies to explore deeper content analysis by also monitoring comments and discussion from the audience to escalate the findings into two-ways image-communication meaning making. In figuring out the general motives and direction to image-based communication and meaning making, a more simplified pattern in understanding visual literacy might just be conveyed. And finally, this paper is presented as a fun academic reading in the field of visual communication.

Keywords: Semiotics, Instagram, First Lady, Ani Yudhoyono, Visual Communication