Cool Social Media Opportunities

Like many people, I have an ambivalent relationship with social media.

• On the one hand, it can exacerbate FOMO, social comparison, distraction, procrastination, insomnia, and inauthentic public images.
• On the other hand, it keeps me connected with friends/family/acquaintances far and wide, updated on the latest trends/news, and entertains me with amusing content. 

After going on many social media "fasts" ranging from a week to 40 days (for Lent one year, I'm not Catholic), I've concluded that social media is worth it because it has opened the doors to incredible opportunities that I would not have otherwise. Once I got past the initial question in my head of "Would this be weird if I just reached out to them directly?" talking to strangers I admired became a blessing. 

Here are some examples of exciting opportunities I've had that came from my involvement on social media...

1) Meeting Photographer Jordan Matter at the New York Art Expo (September 2015) - An ex-boyfriend gave me the book Dancers Among Us when I first moved to NYC. I'd already been following Jordan Matter's work for a few months. I was in awe of the beauty and creativity of his photography of dancers in everyday scenes. One time, he had a challenge for people to send in their own pictures of dancing in everyday life and I sent mine in. It got featured on his account!! I was so excited/honored/in awe. I've since taken LOTS of such pics of myself doing dance poses in random places (Instagram account @lindanceflor - my maiden name is Flores). 

I also found out he was going to be at the New York Art Expo and I got to meet him and take this pic of his book!! 

2) Being featured in the Harlem Photo Contest for Teachers College, Columbia University (February 2016) - While I was a graduate student at Columbia University, my college had a photo contest of students throughout Harlem, the neighborhood Teachers College is in. I took a simple dance pose after church one day and it got featured on their account! 

3) Attending a handstand workshop in Brooklyn by Adrian McCavitt (October 2016) - I originally got Instagram to follow certain people I found funny or inspiring. One person was a master of handstands. Adrian McCavitt posts pics of him in breathtaking handstands of all shapes. Having been a handstand enthusiast since I was a child, I actually found classes at circus school and yoga studios that specifically taught handstand technique. I was so excited when I saw he was hosting a master class in Brooklyn one Saturday morning. I didn't have any plans (very unlike me) so I took a long subway ride down from Washington Heights and attended the class in absolute awe. Here's my blog post about it. 

Since moving out of New York City, surviving the COVID pandemic, and having a baby...my interactions with non-family/friends on social media are mostly with authors of books that really move me. Most recently, I wrote this blog post about Simu Liu's memoir We Were Dreamers and messaged him the link on Instagram. We'll see if he ever responds!