Friday, November 13, 2020
How to Network Online: Advice for College Dancers
Dance Magazine: Connecting with an artistic director on LinkedIn. Sliding into a choreographer's Instagram DMs. Tweeting at your favorite dancer. With so many ways to network online, it's hard to know which are most professional and effective. How can students use today's digital tools to build meaningful relationships with the professionals they meet on campus?
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2 comments:
This article makes some really great points and though when it talks about sliding into a choreographer's DMs that concern me. I understand that some people make professional social media pages but also I feel like there is a way to respectfully get someone’s attention. If someone was to slide into my DMs to network, I would find that creepy and off-putting as well as an invasion of my personal boundaries. I think with the increased virtual time and increase the use of social media, our culture runs the risk of destroying people’s work/life balance. Though I have never been in a hiring position, I feel as though I would refrain from going on people’s social media to find out more about them unless it was their professional page/ because I wouldn’t have the time to stalk someone on social media and also b/ I think people should have the right to keep their personal life private. I think the article does talk about how knowing what platform to access people on is important and as a young arts manager, I would agree that private messaging on LinkedIn is a lot better than DMing me on Instagram and maybe this is the opposite for choreographers like the article suggests but it just seems wrong. Especially when networking with a potential future employer I feel that there can be power relationship abuse very easily and a causal nature that I personally would never want when I network. This post might reveal how much of an introvert I am and a little bit of paranoid but I think it is an important aspect (though I don’t really post personal things on my social media, I don’t know if it is how I want to be networking with people). I still think email, linked-in, professional websites, and professional social media pages as a last resort are the way to go before sliding into someone’s DMs as the article suggests. Also, that phrasing of sliding into DMs just has a cultural connotation that rubs me the wrong way.
In response to Alexander’s comment, I don’t think messaging someone on Instagram is disrespectful. It obviously depends on the context, like if they have so many followers and messages than that’s probably not the best way to get in contact with them. But one of the points of the article was that people want to work with other good people and a super professionally worded email might not make you seem personable and might not be the best way to connect with someone younger in the industry. A simple comment about something that someone has posted and how you really admire their work might be a great way to start a conversation with someone. I’ve had people message me on my art Instagram and they reach out for some sort of commission and I usually don’t feel weird about it. I don’t know what’s standard in the industry but I do know that everything is becoming more digital and social media is a great way to connect. They can click on your profile and instantly get an idea of who you are, where you studied and see your art. This article made me want to get a LinkedIn to connect with alumni. I also loved the idea of emailing thank you emails to guest speakers. There are going to be so many amazing opportunities in college to hear from professionals in the industry or take workshops from alumni and by sending an email afterwards you can set yourself apart from the crowd and give a good impression that may be helpful in the future.
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