Whose Advice Do You Take?

An interesting topic came up recently, and it didn’t even have to do with bodily functions. Imagine that! You may believe that I am only drawn to crude cartoons, bad manners, off color comments and farts, but you would be wrong. Under this irreverent exterior is a thinker, a feeler!

PENIS! (I need to uphold my reputation)

I wish I could remember where I read it, but someone was dishing about advice given on blogs and whether it should be followed. Unless you have a life and don’t pay attention to this stuff, blogs have become very influential over the past few years.

BlogHer reports in their Social Media Matters Study (2011):

“Women who read blogs routinely trust implicitly the advice and recommendations they receive, especially if it is from a blogger that they follow on a regular basis. 88% of the active blog readers in the total U.S. general population trust the information they get from familiar blogs.”

This doesn’t have to mean that when SUAR says, “Don’t jeopardize that PR! Crap your pants while running!” you do it (although this guy did and he damn well better have won the race).

Maybe for you following advice is using a training plan someone else has used because it worked for them. Or, maybe you read a blogger’s “Favorite Things” list and decide you need to go shopping.

BlogHer’s study made me question how influenced I am by the blogs I read.

Let’s put it this way: if a blogger who I follow and trust recommends a product, a recovery tip, a book or a training tool, I’m probably pretty likely to give it a shot. This is much in the same way I would take the advice of a trusted and dependable friend. The source of the advice is everything!!

I always have a filter, however. I realize that what works for one person does not work for all people. When it comes to bigger issues such as weekly mileage, number of races, marital advice, disciplining children, I am careful to take input, but to always run it back through what I know to be true for myself.

I have gotten burned way too many times by blindly accepting advice or promises (I’ll pull out this one time!) At the end of the day (hate that expression, but it fits here), I am accountable to myself and my values. I won’t compromise just because it makes me the black sheep or the last kid picked in gym class.  I wore my wetsuit in the pool for god sake on a 95 degree day. I only care what people think/say to a point.

Do you take personal advice, product review recommendations, and/or training suggestions from the blogs that you read? Why or why not?

SUAR

PS: The winner of the Subway gift card is Kicking MS One Mile at a Time. Please email me at beth@shutupandrun.net with your address!