Finding sources for credible and recent science-based information can be challenging. Lately we’ve been tapping into a learning resource that often goes overlooked. Maybe you’ll want to take a new look at this resource yourself!
Let’s be honest, there is a lot of crap floating around out there with respect to endurance sports training information. A lot of the so called ‘science’ often cited in social media posts is not much more than cherry picked snippets from research papers with the purpose of aligning with one’s philosophy. Add to that, the quality of journal that the paper was sourced from is another big factor.
So how do you know where to look for credible and recent science-based information?
The answer is likely not where you would think to look.
Most of us are familiar with the platform LinkedIn for things such as networking, job hunting and even getting leads for potential sales. However, the one area that LinkedIn is not commonly associated with is scientific research.
Due to the nature of UESCA, I follow quite a few well-respected sports scientists, researchers and allied health professionals. These individuals often post their own research findings, research from other researchers, as well as their own observations and opinions.
There are three great things about using LinkedIn as a learning medium:
- As LinkedIn posts are not peer-reviewed journals, the content is much more digestible for us non-science/research folks
- You can read the comments on a post and then in tandem with your own thoughts, you can gain a well-rounded appreciation of the post
- Once you follow a few people in a particular area of study (ex: metabolism), you will be recommended others in the same or ancillary fields of study to follow
Social Media Isn’t the Problem – It’s Who You’re Following
Social media gets a bad rap… and for the most part, deservedly so. Whether you’re doom scrolling at 3am watching cat videos or reading all of your ‘friends’ opinions about politics, there are a lot of aspects of social media on which to waste your time that have little to no value.
However, just like social circles, the value that you get from social media largely depends on who you spend time with, or follow online, respectively.
While I’m not immune to a hysterical meme by some crazy influencer, I try to be very intentional about who I follow, and why I follow them. The two main areas for which I utilize social media are business and sports science. And by doing this, I’ve found social media to be quite valuable to growing UESCA. In fact, several of our UESCA podcast guests and contributors were the result of connecting on LinkedIn.
Civility
While all social media platforms have their fair share of haters and keyboard warriors who are mostly looking to incite division and stir up controversy, I’ve personally found that LinkedIn’s userbase is quite civil and dare I say even uplifting. And when someone disagrees with someone else on the platform, their verbiage is typically much more ‘professional’ and thoughtful than other social media platforms.
Quite refreshing!!
Great Questions
Due to the demographic that seems to interact on LinkedIn, I often find that comments on posts are great questions that invite further dialogue and questions from others and helps to shape the ‘conversation’ so that users like me get a lot out of the content.
A Trusted Source
I’ve now established a fairly robust network on LinkedIn that I often refer to as a means of learning more and getting a fresh perspective on things. Considering all the noise of influencers, biased marketing from companies, etc., having a network of people that I can refer to on most any topic related to business and sports science is quite comforting.
Summary
No social media platform is perfect, LinkedIn included. However, if you’ve never utilized LinkedIn as a means of learning, I highly encourage you to check out the platform in this capacity and I like me, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
We’re living in the information age, supercharged by technology. Everything you need to know is already out there. You just have to look in the right spots and follow the right people on social media. Think of it like your inner circle: you want to surround yourself with people who level you up, not people who hold you back.