If you go on Twitter/X and find the right people, you can get most of the benefits you list here. There are tastemakers that share and discuss intriguing papers, and researchers who post their own papers with explanation threads which are often more useful than the papers themselves. The researchers are usually available to answer questions about their work, and you can read the answers they’ve given already. You’re also ahead of the game because preprints can appear way before conferences.
If you go on Twitter/X and find the right people, you can get most of the benefits you list here. There are tastemakers that share and discuss intriguing papers, and researchers who post their own papers with explanation threads which are often more useful than the papers themselves. The researchers are usually available to answer questions about their work, and you can read the answers they’ve given already. You’re also ahead of the game because preprints can appear way before conferences.