Is Social Media Putting Dancers At Risk?
The first thing I find myself doing in the morning when I wake up Is grabbing my phone and checking social media, which I am sure that most people can relate to. As a dancer when scrolling through social media, specifically Instagram, my feed consists of a lot of dance accounts. When I wake up in the morning usually one of the first things that I will see on my phone is a ballerina doing something that I could only dream of being able to do, so already letting myself get down, I have put myself into a negative mindset to start my day. If I am doing this on a day to day basis, I am sure that there are other dancers doing the same thing. Social media has allowed dance to become more accessible in a way that it has made it easier to view and find examples of, but with this it has increased comparison and dangerous aspects throughout the dance community such as putting your body at risk due to trying things that you are seeing online and might not be ready for. Social media has also increased the standard of dance making it almost unreachable. When pictures and videos are posted onto the internet it can become very misleading when it pops up onto peoples feed, because we as followers are not getting the whole picture, because a vast majority of things that we are viewing online is catered to what we would want to see and what is going to get the most likes. In the grand scheme of things, the biggest things that social media has done in the dance world is created dangerous aspects due to lack of knowledge and it has neglected to allow us to see the whole picture of what we are viewing online.
Dancers need to be aware that with benefits of social media and dance, there are also negative aspects as well, especially when dancers become too reliant on certain aspects of social media. Social media is a great way for dancers to stay caught up with what is going on in the industry and to be able to watch as it is growing and evolving. Social media is a handy learning tool when used smartly and effectively. Social media is also a great way to learn new things, but when not used safely it can also become dangerous. According to Kathryn Holmes, who put out an article on how to use social media as a learning tool, social media can be used to seek out inspiration when wanting to learn new dance styles, it also helps to provide you with reliable sources. Social media becomes a negative source when you stop trying to learn from what you are watching; you are just watching it. It is the act of scrolling smart that is going to be beneficial. In order to use social media effectively it is important to have a purpose in mind when it comes to what you are looking at, if there is no purpose, then as I said earlier you are just watching, you are not learning, this is a perfect example of scrolling smart. Also, when it comes to viewing things on social media, you need to make sure that you know your limits, because you are not going to be able to do everything that you see, this is where the improper use of social media could become dangerous to dancers. With social media, we as dancers are exposed to tricks or dance moves that we have never done before or might not be ready for, so you should always make sure you are attempting new things in the safest ways possible. Homles, states that you should always contact your instructor before trying any conditioning exercises or tricks. Rain Francis, has similar views to those of Kathryn Holmes. Francis, put out an article about the dangers of social media for dancers, and is concerned with the fact that young dancers and even older dancers are copying their idols online and are putting themselves at serious risk of injury, because they are not ready for what they are trying to do. Francis, wants dancers to realize that everyone has different body types and you are not going to be able to execute everything that you are seeing online. Francis also brings up the point that when scrolling online, you have no idea about the amount of work that person has put in, in order to achieve that movement that you are now viewing. Francis, also states that when you come across a tutorial online, you want to make sure that it is coming from a valid source, because if it ends up not being a reliable source, you could seriously hurt yourself. When using social media to try and better yourself as a dancer, you need to make sure you are using it effectively and safely, and try to remember your purpose when it comes to what you are viewing and always remember your limits, because everyone is different.
One of the biggest flaws with social media is that it is not able to capture the whole picture. You are never going to be able to see every little thing that goes into each post that pops up in your feed. Due to this, social media has developed a realm of comparison, which is quite prevalent in the dance community. Theresa Howard, talks about when you come across a post on Instagram of a dancer doing a devoloppé to six o’ clock , which is a dance move where you lift your leg up as high as it can go, you start to wonder “what else can they do, can they actually dance?”. When you go to the dancers’ profile and start scrolling through her feed you will usually find that she is only posting things that showcase her flexibility. People do not want to post things that they are not good at, they want to post what is going to get the most likes, this resulting in us not being able to see the whole picture. Before you start to compare yourself to the dancers that you are seeing online it is important to try and remember that these dancers who have developed a following, are only posting the best version of themselves. They are not showing you the struggle and hard work that it took to get them to this point to be able to execute the movements and positions that they are sharing online. They are also neglecting to show us the things that they are struggling with or have not quite mastered yet. Howard, also makes a point to bring up the fact that everything has become so extreme now. If the average person can do what is being posted, then it is of no interest to the viewers. This plays a huge role in the idea that the standard of dance has increased, because those who you would categorize as well-known dancers are doing things that the average dancer could never do. Social media has people searching for the next big thing and once they find it they want something better. This has become a never-ending cycle, and once you are unable to reach peoples standards, you are of no interest anymore.
Social media has allowed dance to become more accessible, but with this it has increased comparison and dangerous aspects throughout the dance community. When it comes to dancers, it is so important for us to be able to accept our bodies and everything that it is capable of doing. Everyone is different and we as dancers need to remember that everyone is going to develop at different rates. Keeping your limits in mind is an effective way to prevent injuries and just all around keep you safe and healthy as a dancer. You cannot let what you see on the internet discourage you, because you are never going to be able to see the whole picture. People want other people to see the best version of themselves possible, so unfortunately that is usually all we are going to get to see. Being a dancer is a short-lived career, so you want to cherish every moment rather than creating a career filled with self-doubt and comparison. Dance is an intense career and being able to accept yourself for who you are and everything that you can do is so important.
