I’m lying on the couch as I got sucked into Instagram and all of their sports physical therapy videos. While scrolling, one exercise video grabbed my attention. This wasn’t because it was good information. It was because it wasn’t and had thousands of likes.
There is so much information out there and anyone with a social media account can have a platform. You have access to the best and the worst information. It is overwhelming!
You need a BS detector so that you aren’t doing bicep curls while standing on a ball, blowing up a balloon (not far off what I saw the other day).
So how do you determine when you should ignore a social media post?
Speaking in absolutes. Most times, the best answer that a professional can give you is “it depends.” Rarely is there a correct answer for every situation. For example, stretching or mobility is often promoted as a “fix” for a given injury. Yet, many people have more important problems to solve. For more information, check out our post, Is Mobility Overrated? It is impossible to know of every possible factor that could be contributing to pain or injury. Even the best among us cannot be 100% certain, especially on social media.
It is too complicated. An expert can take a complex topic and break it down so that it makes sense to you. Complicated medical jargon is a red flag that the presenter does not understand what they are posting.
Promoting personal success stories as evidence. Personal success stories are subjective and ignore the facts and research. Many influencers post personal success stories as evidence for their approach. This ignores all the other factors that may have contributed to the results being promoted (genetics, differences in lifestyle, priority differences, etc.). Quality research requires thousands of trials before it is valid. A case study of 1 or 2 people only applies to those 1 or 2 people!
P.S. If someone is promoting a “quick fix”….run!
