The Role of Social Media in a Dancer’s Career: Exposure or Exploitation?
Social media has become an almost essential tool for dancers looking to build visibility, connect with audiences, and access opportunities beyond the studio. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok now function as informal portfolios: a way to showcase technique, choreography, and personality. But with visibility comes vulnerability, and with branding comes pressure. This post explores the complex dynamic between social media and professional dance, asking: does it offer more exposure - or more exploitation?
The Rise of the Digital Dancer
In many ways, social media has democratised dance. Dancers can now share work directly with audiences, bypassing traditional gatekeepers. Many emerging artists have booked jobs, gained funding, or built communities purely through their online presence. The "Instagram dancer" is no longer an outsider: they’re part of the mainstream.
Social media also enables dancers to showcase more than just physical ability. It allows for storytelling, personal branding, activism, and collaboration - and it gives space for dancers who might not fit industry norms to find their own audience.
Visibility Comes at a Cost
The Pressure to Perform. Always.
When your online presence is part of your career, the pressure to constantly post, update, and engage can be overwhelming. Dancers often feel the need to share flawless content, even when they're injured, exhausted, or struggling — reinforcing perfectionist culture.
The Algorithm Shapes the Art
Creativity doesn’t always thrive under algorithmic pressure. Fast-paced, hyper-visual, often superficial trends can shape what dancers create, and how they present themselves. Work that doesn’t “perform well” online may be discarded, even if it holds deeper artistic value. There's also growing concern over how algorithms favour certain bodies, aesthetics, or commercial styles, sidelining others in the process.
Blurred Boundaries Between Professional and Personal
Dancers are often expected to share not just their work, but their lives: their routines, relationships, bodies, and thoughts. The line between dancer and influencer becomes blurred, which can lead to burnout and self-objectification. Being seen becomes a form of labour in itself.
Navigating Social Media with Intention
Social media doesn’t have to be harmful, but it needs to be handled with care. Here are a few ways dancers can approach online platforms more sustainably:
Set boundaries. Not every moment needs to be content. Protect your privacy and energy.
Curate, but don’t filter reality. Show your craft, but also honour your process, including rest, mess, and growth.
Be critical of the algorithm. Create what feels true to you, not just what’s trending.
Diversify platforms. Avoid relying on one app. Build email lists, portfolios, and real-world relationships.
Unfollow and audit. If content makes you feel inadequate, anxious, or disconnected, let it go.
Personal Reflection: Why I Had to Rethink My Own Online Presence
There was a time when I felt like I had to post every week: choreography, progress videos, insights, all while teaching, creating, working and studying. But over time, I realised that I was spending more energy trying to appear present than actually being present. Social media is a powerful tool, but it’s not neutral. It shapes how we see ourselves, how others see us, and how we define success.
Now, I use it more intentionally: to share meaningful work, yes, but also to protect my creativity and make space for real rest and growth.
Summary: Own Your Narrative, On Your Terms
Social media can be a powerful stage; dancers deserve to choose when, how, and if they step into that spotlight. When used with care, it can offer connection, visibility, and opportunity. But when dictated by algorithms, it can narrow artistic freedom and erode wellbeing. As dancers, we must remember: our value doesn’t depend on engagement. Our artistry exists - with or without the likes.