I’m sure many of you are hesitant about broadcasting your dancer on public social media platforms to an unknown number of followers, as you should be. That’s why we’re here to help!
Why should you even bother with social media?
With the growing amount of social media platforms, hashtags, follower concerns, and so on, it can seem like an overwhelming amount of work for relatively little payoff. However, there are positive reasons why you may want to consider the world of social media for your dancer!
The community you make online can lead to great opportunities for your dancer! For example, our SewCC Ambassadors (who you’ll hear more from later in this post!) wouldn’t have found their spot in the #SewCCFam without social media. This opportunity isn’t exclusive to ambassadorships either; many companies offer discount codes, modeling contracts, online workshops, and many other opportunities via their social media platform. A side tip is to create an email account that is the same as the dancer’s social media handle if you plan to get serious about setting them up for business opportunities!
Along with providing free products and opportunities to your dancer, social media can also provide a community of like-minded, encouraging dancers that you can connect with! We are connected like never before, and what used to take days of mail, travel, or phone calls can now be done through a simple “follow” or “comment” on social media. This allows your dancer to connect with friends from all over the country in ways that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.
There is no sign that technology will be slowing down any time soon, so starting your dancer off in a monitored environment can be very helpful. This can also open the door to important conversations regarding internet safety. Remember that the minimum user age for Instagram is 13. (We personally do not allow child controlled social media in our house until at least 16.) We recommend monitoring your dancers account as long as possible. A second set of eyes on the follower list and DM's doesn't hurt!
How do you start?
Scrolling through social media and seeing the perfectly-posed, edited, color-coded news feeds of some of the more seasoned dancers can be intimidating, but we’re here to walk you through the basics to make creating your dancer’s social media fun and stress-free!
Start with a catchy handle. Handles are specifically important for platforms such as Instagram and Twitter since the followers will see the handle more than your actual name, and often the handle becomes how the page is referenced. Make sure your handle is clear, easy to remember, and communicates what the page is about without any unnecessary numbers or symbols. For example, DancingQueenL would make sense for a dancer, but LizzLuvsDogs28 would not (even if I do really love dogs). The catch with handles is that you can’t have the same one as someone else, so sometimes you have to get creative if what you had your heart set on is taken. Let’s say DancingQueenL is taken; you could say DancingQueen_L instead! That conveys the same message, is still clear and easy to remember, and doesn’t use unnecessary or confusing numbers or symbols.
Now that you’ve got your handle you can start exploring hashtags! Hashtags are a way to search over social media, so you can gain visibility on your posts if you choose the right ones. When choosing hashtags make sure they’re broad enough to have many other posts under them, and you want them to be something that someone would actually think to search. For example, #DanceCompDay would be a good idea while #Dance may be too broad and #DanceCompDaySeattleWA2020 would be too specific. Hashtags can be tricky too since they do make your post widely searchable, so we highly recommend you keep reading to our safety section.
Lastly, just have fun! While it can be appealing to want your social media to look picture-perfect all the time, that can drain the fun out of it for you and your dancer-- not to mention that it’s time consuming. This platform can be whatever you want it to be, so try to block out the need to create the right “look” and just enjoy the creative process.
Safety! Safety! Safety!
This is a big deal at SewCC, and we take the safety of everything we post seriously. Social media can be a wonderful tool, but it should be used correctly and intelligently. We’ve composed our biggest tips for ensuring that you can stay safe while you’re on social media, but please understand that this list is not comprehensive. As we like to say: when in doubt, BLOCK it out!
Our NUMBER ONE tip for safety on social media is to be very generous with the block feature. If an account doesn’t feel right, you’re receiving strange or unsolicited messages, there seems to be no connection to the dance world or your friends, or for any other reason at all you do not feel comfortable with an account-- block it. Our block list at SewCC is VERY long, as we believe it should be. This may cost you some followers occasionally, but we believe that it is well worth it for the safety that it provides. Quality over quantity-- We would prefer a small following of accounts we trust over a large following with possible creeps!
Be careful when choosing hashtags. Think about how many words can have different meanings in different contexts; that’s true about ubiquitous words in the dance world as well. Although the way you are intending a hashtag or word to be interpreted may not be reflected in the other content that is in the hashtag search. To avoid this, try to ensure that you search the hashtag for a few minutes before using it, especially if you are new to the social media scene. Soon you’ll be able to get a feel for what are better wording options. (Example- flexible might not be the best choice for a photo of your cute toddler practicing her heelstretch!)
Monitor messages carefully and constantly, and turn off messages from people you don’t follow. This is also a great time to start the conversation about internet safety with your dancers that have been given permission to access their own account. Many messages are friendly or encouraging, but talking honestly and openly with your dancer about how to spot red flags in the conversation (such as asking to talk on a different app, asking specific personal information about age, location, etc., or asking the dancer to be secretive about a conversation) can lead to an overall safer and better social media experience. These are skills they can transfer into their lives as they grow as well!
Be weary of posting location, even if it automatically suggests that you add one. Locations, much like hashtags, will allow your post to be seen when that location is searched, which can be a way to get your account more exposure. However, this can also be dangerous because it can be a way for someone to know your location without ever having to ask you for it. For this reason, we suggest that if you are going to post your location, at a convention or competition for example, you post the photo after you have already gone back home. That way, you can get the exposure of your post with the others and connect to the community that you were at without exposing any information about where you currently are located. It also is generally not a good idea to post your location in your bio.
SewCC Season 5 ambassador- Olivia modeling her Believe leotard!
Social media tips from our 2020 SewCC Ambassadors!
“I think mixing up the posts between dance pics and videos helps keep the feed interesting.
Also being sure to post often. And make sure to share the love. Like other people’s posts!!!”
-Michelle Alfred (Sydney’s Mom)
Our top tips are:
- Be kind, positive, and share the love. Commenting on friends and sharing their posts is a great way to stay active and connect with people.
- Post often! Dalia averages a post every day or two. She posts mostly dance stuff (which tend to be the most liked/commented on). But she also changes it up with her other activities too. Again with positive posts.
- Block any creepy accounts!
-Stephanie Torres (Dalia’s Mom)
“I agree with the ladies above me....posting often has made a huge difference in the social media page, as well as #! The more you use, the more people you will reach!!!!!!! Some of my favorites are:
#ballerinacam #prettyballerina #balletislife #danceislife #studiodance #dancers_and_dance #dda #duvalldance #dancerspassion #ilovedance #ballerina #ballerinasofinstagram #balletlife #WORLDOFDANCERS #instagramfordancers #lovethatdance #goalsofdancer #goalsdancer #dancer #dance #dancersofinstagram #camiam #dancingcamiam #tutumuchballet”
- Shannon Blake (Camryn’s Mom)
“Posting consistently is the key and keeping it interesting. Separate your dancer from others...make your dancer unique. For example, Olivia is young and I don't want her to look or act more grown up than she is. I want her to connect with her followers on her dance journey and growth as a dancer. I also want her to show her silly side, and personality. Posting dance poses, videos of her training (showing her challenges and strengths of dance) or even a fun non dance post to show she is just still a kid. Making sure we connect with other dancers with a comment as much as possible. Letting other dancers know how much we enjoy their posts. Olivia loves to make people feel good about themselves and loves to leave positive comments. Working together helps with networking. And most importantly keeping a close eye on who follows her account. I skim all accounts like a hawk and BLOCK when necessary. I remind her it's not about the amount of people that follow you, it's the quality of people who follow her.”
-Alex Buck (Olivia’s Mom)
