Does Instagram Matter for College Volleyball Recruiting?

It might be hard to believe, but I have NEVER been asked by a college coach at any level, "Hey Jason, how come Sara doesn't have a volleyball only Instagram account." It's never happened.

Why is that?

In short - Instagram isn't going to have a huge impact on your volleyball recruiting.

I want to back up a little bit and talk about how we get to this point where we think social media should be the starting point to our recruiting process.

Social media can certainly be the hub of what many parents do these days. Twitter for years has been one of the biggest recruiting hubs for Baseball and Football at the college level. Unfortunately, college volleyball recruiting is different (in many ways) than either of these sports. So, while other sports might use social media more for recruiting purposes, it's not yet used for college volleyball. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. It is used, just not to the extent that many people think.

Social media is still a reactive model. You're still hoping that college coaches will "find" your volleyball only account or find your recruiting schedule miraculously pinned to the top of a platform you almost never post on. The BEST way to get recruited is still to reach out directly to college coaches. I have known several athletes that could do this on social media and do it successfully. But, in these two instances, they were already KNOWN athletes when they started doing this.

Instagram is also NOT dependable. If you're hoping that your hype reel you just posted is getting in front of the college coaches you want it to get in front of, think again. Your 200 views from your last highlight reel are probably getting seen my your friends at your high school. Your post about playing in a tournament this weekend probably has a better chance getting seen my the tournament's social media director than it does getting seen by college coaches. Don't let yourself get restricted by algorithm.

So what does an Instagram account give you?

1) A place to engage with college coaches

2) Show colleges your personality

But you only do this if you post regularly and post often.

College coaches can't engage with you on this platform if you don't post there. Does it need to be a FT gig? I don't think so. But more than 3 posts a club season is probably a good idea if you're trying to get everything you can get out of something like Instagram. The majority of volleyball only instagram accounts I see (and I don't encourage separate accounts) have fewer than 12 posts on them. That's not even once a week!

It can show college coaches more about you as a person (non-volleyball player) and show them insights into your personality. Again, you'll need to post more info about yourself! What I think that many people miss about Instagram throughout this recruiting process is that it's not the 1st place college coaches go. It's the 2nd!

It's the place they go after they get your email and AFTER they like your film. It's the place they go when they notice you interacting with their account or maybe the school's volleyball account. But, if there's nothing for the coach to see when they go to your profile on social media, then it's not serving it's purpose or any purpose really.

Remember, that in the end, showing interest to a volleyball program is going to go a lot further than any of your posts on social media.