As social media evolves and the number of users increases, the utility of social platforms has begun to change.  

Matthew Nielsen, gold medalist in the men's event at the 2019 U.S. Novice and Junior Challenge Skate in Salt Lake City, uses his platform to aide his skating technique, while inspiring his followers.

Nielsen uploads videos to his account (@_mattskates) of different figure skating elements performed by himself on the ice, trampoline and even into a waterfall.

"I started about three years ago because I kind of just wanted to track my progress," Nielsen explains. "I post jumps as they get better, even if I don't have the jumps yet, just so I can see what I can do better in my element."

Progress has definitely been made since creating the showcase account. Within the time period of creating the Instagram channel, Nielsen has become a two-time U.S. silver medalist as an intermediate and novice skater. He says his success has a direct result in the uptick of followers to the account.

"About a year ago it really started to take off a lot, and I started to medal at competitions, and it started to gain momentum really fast."

Using social media for good, Nielsen says his videos have reached thousands of people and push others and himself to continue to perform at a high level.

"It kind of motivated me at first to get better so that people would notice my skating," said Nielsen. "Whenever I am feeling bad about anything, I can go back and know that I have come from there to now and it always makes me feel better."

Nielsen, in the span of just three years sharing his hard work through Instagram, has garnered over 25,000 followers with thousands of views on each post.

"I get a lot of requests now. A lot of people want me to post new elements like quads or triple Axels."

His comment sections flooded with encouraging messages from fans and teammates, Nielsen wants to continue using Instagram to showcase his talent and the sport of figure skating.

"I'm going to continue what I am doing now with it (Instagram) and continue to post new elements and learn from it."

Looking forward to the remainder of the season, Nielsen has been selected for the Junior Grand Prix event in Egna, Italy, this upcoming week and will be battling it out abroad with seven Team USA members.

"I want to make U.S. Championships and medal. I want to continue to make higher scores and keep getting better this year."