Athletes today are developing their identities online instead of just relying on positive accomplishments displayed on a field or in a record book. One of the athletes adapting to this new method of creating her identity is Niharika Vashisht, whose increasing social media presence showcases not only her career as an athlete, but also how she’s evolved as a person through that career. Recently, Niharika discussed her digital evolution and how social media has become a substantial extension of her career.
Transition from a Training Ground to Your Timeline
The way Niharika first got into social media was through an organic process rather than a calculative one. In the very beginning of her social media journey, she used to post training sessions, video clips from competitions, and behind the scenes glimpses of her life as an athlete. As time passed, she started to notice that most of her audience asked her less about her accomplishments as a player; rather, the questions were more about who she was off the field.
Niharika came to understand that showing authentic moments (i.e., early morning workout routines, days where she is just recovering from a workout, and even days where she experiences failure) helped her create a stronger connection with her followers. This transformation from simply posting accomplishments to telling an entire story about herself through her posts was a major milestone in her social media evolution.
Authenticity Over Perfection
The primary topic that Vashisht discussed was authenticity of portrayals especially in the context of how athletes physically present themself in digital formats. Because of the negative view many have about athletes’ portrayals of themselves, the more truthfulness or authenticity that a person can convey in a digital format can cause their audience to relate more strongly to what they are creating. For example, instead of trying to create a perfect persona or image for an athlete, she has chosen to display both successes and failures of her athletes.
She states that through creating an authentic image for her athletes, it helps to create a level of trust for the audience and provides motivation for younger athletes who may be going through comparable experiences. In addition, she has opened herself and her athletes to talk about injuries, performance anxiety, and the mental toughness required for competitive sports, which is usually not discussed in the competitive sports environment.
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Responsibility of Influencers
As she grows her audience, with the potential for 50K followers, she understands that there is a greater responsibility that is associated with growing the audience. She also understands that athletes are role models in the sporting arena as well as in the digital world. Therefore, her guidelines for creating content are based on a well-defined purpose.
Through her digital content, she has created opportunities to develop and promote the importance of physical fitness awareness, discipline, and mental well-being of youth. She also discussed that with the responsibility of the growing number of followers that she has, there is a growing number of out-of-direct line of sight followers (Internet video continues) to athletes for motivation and direction, which means as athletes create content they will influence how all followers perceive what athletes do.
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Navigating Challenges in the Digital Space
Social media can be a double-edged sword; while there are many opportunities it can create, there are also challenges associated with using social media. Vashisht talked about how dealing with criticism and online negativity is a part of her life. During the early stages of the journey, dealing with unsolicited opinions from others has been difficult for her.
It has also been a challenge for Vashisht to find a way to separate constructive feedback from the noise when she receives comments from others. By creating a balanced perspective, she can continue to focus on her goals without being too influenced by external validation and/or criticism. Vashisht shared that establishing digital boundaries is key to her success; knowing when to turn off her devices and put her mental health first are two keys to maintaining her digital boundaries.
The other challenge Vashisht talked about was balancing sport and social media. Between training, competing, and recovering, Vashisht has very little time to engage with others online. To combat this issue, she has a structured system to plan out content surrounding her schedule is key to her being able to focus on her main priority, which is sport.
Vashisht emphasized that sport is always her number one focus and social media is an extension of sport and not a distraction from it. By having this structure in her life, it allows her to continue to perform at a high level while being able to connect with her audience in a meaningful way.
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Inspiring the Next Generation
The evolution of athlete Vashisht’s experience is indicative of an overall shift in how athletes are becoming narrators of their own journeys through digital media, with the goal of creating an impact and motivating others to pursue their dreams.
Vashisht’s posts and the comments she makes while interacting with others, are intended on breaking down barriers and empowering people to participate in athletic events. She feels strongly that by having visibility, one can help to create more role models for future generations and that the same holds true in the case of digital media.
Future ahead
Vashisht is focused on continuing to expand her digital presence while remaining aligned with her values as a person. She is considering exploring the creation of new types of content, working with other content creators, and developing programs that are consistent with her identity as an athlete.
When it comes to social media, Vashisht believes it is not simply a numbers game. It’s about the impact she is able to have on others through social media; whether it’s inspiring young athletes, educating them about the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle, or simply sharing a struggle and/or success in overcoming it.
Niharika Vashisht has an approach that is well balanced by her authenticity, sense of responsibility, and purpose — qualities that will create a new definition of how to be successful as an athlete in today’s world.
