The Good and the Bad of Social Media in S&C

In this day and age, the internet and social media are inescapable features of our lives. Whilst it has brought an age of enlightment, it isn’t without its problems too. In this article I’m going to explore some of the ways it benefitted and also hindered the S&C industry.

Access to Information- The Good

Before social media, coaches would have to travel to clinics and seminars in order to keep up to the date with the latest advances in sport science and hear case studies/ examples- often incurring large costs to do so. Whilst in person conferences are undoubtedly worthwhile experiences, they can often be exclusive; in the sense of the difficulty getting to venues and having to take leave from work, just so you can get better at doing your work. Nowadays, social media offers a fantastic place for like-minded coaches to share their ideas and brainstorm together. From videos of drills and exercises, to question and answer sessions; social media presents unlimited access for new learning opportunities that can be done from virtually anywhere and at convenient time for you. An increasingly popular method of communication continues to be infographics, where complicated studies are summed up in succinct posters allowing for a far greater reach than an article published in a journal.

Access to Information- The Bad

The flip side is that with all this new information available to access instantaneously, how do you dissect what is true and useful, from what is potentially harmful? Whilst S&C isn’t a protected profession (you can call yourself S&C coach without having any qualifications but you can’t call yourself a physiotherapist unless you meet the requirements), it still requires time and dedication to learn the basics, preferably from a structured program or a competent practitioner. Social media sites reward popularity, the more likes, retweets, and shares something gets, the larger the audience that sees it. This means that the information you could be accessing could be from unreliable sources, harmful or just flat out wrong particularly if people are paid to spread it. This unchecked access to information can lead to “overnight experts”- people who read 1 article (not even a good one!) and suddenly become a leading expert on the subject. On the surface this appears harmless, however it is easy to see how unqualified coaches leading young, pliable athletes may potentially cause harm albeit unwittingly. It is important to make sure when using social media to upskill, that the information is taken from a credible source and to be aware of the context it was designed for, rather than searching out which video has the most the likes.

In a similar vein, social media gives rise to copying without context. Blindly copying something is bad enough but given the nature of social media, that information has a high chance of being poor quality. So not only are people copying the latest fancy footwork drill, but now people are blindly copying rubbish practice too! Coaches should be thinking critically about everything they do with their athlete. Is it safe for them to do? Is it appropriate for our goals? Is he ready for this level of stress? Not taking the individual needs of your athlete into account can cause avoidable harm. Even worse is the situation where an athlete doesn’t know any better or doesn’t have someone to guide them. The internet is flooded with ‘advanced program for this’ and an “advanced program for that’, it doesn’t take long before twelve-year-old Tom finds a program online that could seriously harm his health. You have a responsibility to educate and keep your athlete safe, even sometimes from you.

Community- The Good

Social media offers a place for discourse and debate with people from wildly varying experiences and contexts all from the comfort of their home. Healthy debate within a profession can lead to the creation of new knowledge, challenge biases and help acknowledge underlying assumptions. All of which can aid in helping the profession grow. After all, we are in the business of helping people and we all want to be as effective as possible with the athletes we train.

A benefit of social media on the S&C community is the enhanced opportunity for networking and mentorships. Being able to connect with someone has never been easier thanks to social media. Although jobs should be awarded based on merit, sometimes it is who you know and what you know that can lead to your dream job. Or even just get you on the ladder.

Community- The Bad

Problems arise when controlled debates become arguments, statement becomes smears and rebuttals become personal attacks. It doesn’t take long to scroll down your feed before you find an argument about something. The consequences of such arguments is retardation of progress within the industry. People become afraid to share their ideas, factions are formed and ultimately knowledge is lost. Additional problems arise with the anonymity and lack of consequences for those who are out to be hurtful and elevate their own standing by belittling others.

Opportunity- The Good

The recent rise of the Instagram influencer, where popular accounts are paid to endorse products, can actually be a full time job for some people. They can now earn a comfortable living from their lounge. Similar lessons have been learnt in the S&C industry; Social media has created an abundance of opportunities for businesses. Free advertising, online interaction can increase the reach of a business overnight. This can lead to greater revenue and funding which are all fantastic for the coaches who work to make a living from their education. There has been a rise in private S&C facilities (particularly in America due to rules regarding contact time in collegiate and professional sports) where athletes can train outside of their team environment. Previously word of mouth and success stories were the only means by which word of these facilities spread.

Overall

Social Media is a powerful tool that can bring people and services together and be mutually beneficial. Additionally it can be a place of mistrust, arguments and bullying. A couple of ways to get the most out of social media for use in the S&C Community is take everything with a pinch of salt, think carefully about your own context and as always..follow the Golden Rule and treat people like as you would like to be treated!