Let's Chat: Making Friends on Social Media
Okay, here’s what they don’t tell you about growing up and becoming an adult: making new friends later in life is HARD. Work becomes your primary place to meet people, outside of that realm it can feel weird, scary, and takes a big leap out of your comfort zone (if you are like me and are a bit more on the introverted side) to make genuine connections and form quality friendships.
Lucky for us we have a tool at our fingertips, a free tool, that can be so incredibly helpful in connecting with new people and forming real friendships so long as you use the tool correctly.
So, what is that tool you may ask?
Social Media.
Social media gets a bad rep and let’s be honest we all grew up being told not to share too much info with people you meet online, but I think that has changed a little bit. Thanks to the parts of me that I’ve put out onto the internet I’ve met some pretty incredible people. Some of these Instagram friendships are just via the app with us being each others virtual cheerleaders, but some of these friendships have become in person friendships.
I firmly believe that you have a choice in how Instagram, and social media in general, affects you and plays a roll in your life. You can mindlessly scroll, follow accounts that are portraying a false reality and idolize people who make you feel like you should be living this perfect, unachievable daily life.
OR
You can follow people who show you the messy stuff. You can follow people who show you that life is beautiful, it’s what you make of it, but that even within that beautiful life there are imperfect days. You can follow people who make you want to push yourself a little bit farther out of your comfort zone. You can follow people who make you want to push yourself to be better so that you can, in turn, positively influence each person you interact with online or in person. You can follow people who help open your eyes to the possibilities that are out there be it in mindset, job opportunities or social causes. You can follow people and connect with people who you want as a part of your circle.
Let me tell you about a few of the rad humans that I am incredibly grateful to have connected with and added to my circle thanks to Instagram:
Photo via Lynn's Instagram
Lynn Hafele
My girl Lynn. She popped into my DM’s almost a year and a half ago to invite me to get my fit on with her and man am I glad that she did. Because of that little message, I really discovered the importance of keeping my body moving. Because of that little message, I learned about the connection between movement and mental health. Because of that little message, I relearned how to fall in love with my body. Lynn helped me become a better me, and even though I have been slacking a little bit lately, watching her post always helps me want to be better!
Amanda Vick
I met Amanda earlier this year at a Blogger Collab Day event she was hosting with another rad human Terressa (Give her a follow too, she’s lovely and another human I’m stoked that Insta introduced me to). Amanda is this little, bubbly human who creates magic behind the camera. She is the ultimate hype lady behind the camera. I also owe it to Amanda for helping introduce me to another rad lady who I got to know through Instagram which brings me to....
Katherine Gramann
@kgramm22
(you can also find her over at @lakeeffectco)
Katherine is a human being that I can’t believe I didn’t cross paths with sooner. She is fellow lake lover who runs Lake Effect Co., a company based around the magic of the lakes and giving back to them. I’ve been lucky enough to do some work with Katherine but more importantly I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy a beautiful sunrise on the lake and a few greats yoga flows with this rad human. Soon enough we will get out and catch a few freshwater waves together!
So, it's up to you. You get to curate the content you take in on social media. I recommend you fill your feed with rad humans who make you want to level up. Fill you feed with rad humans that you want to be bff’s with outside of the internet, because you never know what can happen.