In true millennial fashion, Ocasio-Cortez had already been incredibly effective at connecting with constituents via social media even before she delivered the biggest primary upset of the 2018 election season, a victory which launched her into immediate stardom. Hence, the “AOC” moniker she’s known by. But the Instagramania began in earnest shortly after the election, when she began documenting scenes from the congressional orientation via the app’s stories and livestreams — offering a peek into a process that remains foreign to many people outside the Beltway. There she was, a “ girl from the Bronx, ” as she often refers to herself, exploring the tunnels below the US Capitol, posing in front of Shirley Chisholm’s portrait , nerding out about the office lottery process and guides on how to be an effective member of Congress. This is around the time that Liz, a 30-year-old from Miami, FL, got hooked. “The most interesting part to me has been the behind-the-scenes of what it means to be a representative, how things work, and why they work as they do,” she told Refinery29. “She will sometimes talk about her day and say, ‘I have this office and it’s not set up yet.’ Or when she went to chase [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell . Here she was, actually on the job. It’s something that I had not seen before.”