By Abbie Preston, Isabelle Emmanuel, and Lily Chen, Staff Reporters

From sharing pictures of a family vacation to texting a friend, social media has become intertwined in people’s daily lives. Though created for personal reasons, individuals now use social media to promote their hobbies, businesses or organizations — Conestoga students are no exception. From promoting a school club to showcasing one’s artwork, numerous students have taken to Instagram to develop an audience and achieve their goals.

For example, Conestoga’s chapter of Interact, a national organization that promotes community service, utilizes social media to attract members and showcase their service projects. According to Reese Oakes, junior co-president of Interact, a substantial number of members is fundamental to the success of a service club.

“When we have more people, we can do bigger projects, larger fundraisers, and then we can help more people. Since we’re a service club, the more people we have, the more resources we have to help others and to make our projects more successful,” Oakes said. “Social media sometimes can be seen as like a highlight reel; in this case, that’s a good thing, because it’ll attract more people. So if we show the best parts of our projects, it’ll show (people) how fun it is, and then (people) will want to join the club.”

For junior Lila Ziegler, social media is a place to organize her artwork and an outlet to inspire others. Her Instagram account features some of her best pieces, most of which are realistic pieces created with colored pencils, Ziegler’s preferred medium. She also uses her social media to display her progress and pieces to colleges.

“It (social media) has definitely helped me because it gets my name out there, and I can show my best pieces,” Ziegler said. “I can look at it, and I feel accomplished with what I’ve created, and (I want) other people to see what I’ve done.”

Junior Jennifer He, who has had a personal photography account since eighth grade, uses social media to promote pictures of sports games and other school events.
“Honestly, when I first started this account in middle school I did it solely because I wanted to have a place where I can publicize pictures I took for fun of the sports teams,” He said. “But now, I use my account as a public portfolio where I can post what I love doing and also let others have access to pictures they are interested in.”

Junior Kat Nguyen, a staff member for TETV and Good Morning ’Stoga, was inspired to start an Instagram account dedicated to her broadcast journalism endeavors after attending a summer program at Penn State. She showcases events she has attended, such as the Mid-Atlantic Emmys and the KYW Newsradio Newstudies program.

“I use a more professional Instagram as a way to network with college professors, people in the industry and companies that I’m working with. It helps my reputation a lot and also helps me meet and stay connected with a lot of people in the industry,” Nguyen said. “I also just have a lot of fun with broadcast journalism. I like having a place where I can look back and see how much I’ve grown and improved with all my work. “

By using social media, junior Aryan Rana has received interest from digital art galleries, magazines and art book projects to feature his artwork. Rana creates digital art in a “shattered” style, featuring various reflective surfaces within the composition of the piece. For Rana, it is essential to gain a community in social media in order to effectively promote his work.

“Everyone’s trying to gain traction together, so if you find a community, then you can get involved in it and other social media accounts within that industry will support you,” Rana said. “Right when I started my Instagram, what got me that initial boost was other artists that had a following already reposting my stuff. It got my work in front of so many eyes for free, just because I’m part of the community.”

Abbie Preston can be reached at [email protected].

Isabelle Emmanuel can be reached at [email protected].

Lily Chen can be reached at [email protected].