My Social Media Journey

My journey with social media began unexpectedly during my sophomore year at UC Berkeley in 2019. One afternoon, my friend and I decided to film a simple “Get Ready With Me” makeup and chit-chat video — just two college besties laughing, talking absolute nonsense, and being our ridiculously ironic selves. We had no big plans, no fancy equipment, and certainly no expectations.

But the video went viral, reaching over 300K views on the 'Chinese YouTube' platform Bilibili. For the first time, I saw how a single piece of genuine content could reach thousands of strangers who somehow felt familiar. Even six years later, people still find and follow me from that one video — many of them Chinese international students studying in the U.S., navigating the same cultural in-between space that I did. That moment opened my eyes to the power of social media: it doesn’t just entertain; it connects people across borders and helps us find our communities.

Fast-forward to 2025 — I’m still in the social media world, but now creating on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. After moving from California to New York, I made a conscious decision to step away from the career paths expected of me — consulting, finance, or anything directly related to my college majors.

By leveraging the power of short-form storytelling, I built a cross-platform community of 600K followers and generated over 100 million views. Beyond numbers, what truly matters to me is what this represents: a new generation of Chinese students redefining creativity and cultural identity.

And even now, I often think back to that moment at Berkeley — just two young girls laughing, gossiping about school, and sharing how we felt that day. That same authenticity, that same curiosity, is what still drives me today. Social media may have taken me far beyond that dorm room, but the heart of it — connecting with others through honesty and storytelling — has never changed ❤️

(Attached photo from my first viral video 😉)

I will always remember that afternoon when I had so much fun just being myself…