A virtual classroom

The world is a big place. I’ll never get to travel to all the places I want to visit or learn about all of the different cultures that are so interesting and varied.

That’s why I like social media. It makes the world smaller. It is a quick way to be transported to learn about new people, places and things. Here are five social media accounts that I like to follow:

1. The White Mountain Apache Tribe Game & Fish Department on Facebook. The tribe is located in Arizona, and their account showcases beautiful scenery photos, impressive fishing photos and other fun updates. It’ll be your new virtual “happy place.”

2. Matika Wilbur on Instagram. Matika is an amazingly talented photographer who also happens to have signed on as the keynote speaker at our annual conference in November in San Diego. Her Project 562 is dedicated to photographing every tribe in the U.S. It’s astonishing to follow her as she travels throughout Indian Country, and her photos are captivating.

3. Akeakamai on Twitter. In its own words, Akeakamai is a “501c3 news organization that covers Native Hawaiian news, history, culture and entertainment.” They post engaging human-interest stories and throwback Thursday photos and highlight policy issues that affect Native Hawaiians.

4. The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development on LinkedIn. The National Center assists tribes and their enterprises with business and economic development, and its LinkedIn page is chock-full of inspirational quotes, business resources and success stories.

5. The Bristol Bay Native Corporation on YouTube. It is a collection of community-based digital stories that give a voice to Bristol Bay Native Corporation shareholders in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska. The videos are short introductions and personal stories of subsistence living, basket weaving and dog mushing, for example.

I hope you have a chance to check them out! I’d like to know: What’s your favorite social media account?