In today’s digital age, the pursuit of social media influence is pervasive. The formula is well-known: post daily, track what resonates, and double down on the topics that gain traction. Once you find that sweet spot, it’s all about repetition—posting content on a trending topic every day to build an audience, gain followers, and increase engagement. This is especially evident in the Excel ecosystem, where Microsoft’s frequent feature updates provide a steady stream of content fodder for aspiring influencers. However, this drive for influence raises serious questions about the reliability of much of the Excel content circulating online.
It’s worth noting that becoming a social media influencer in any field does not require deep expertise or even practical experience. In fact, one can easily become a recognized influencer in a niche like Excel simply by aggregating and repackaging existing content. This is not just true of Excel; the same pattern exists across many topics, from fitness to travel, where creators can generate a following without having any substantive background. Excel, being a particularly popular and versatile tool, has become fertile ground for such practices.
But let’s pause for a moment and consider the implications of this phenomenon. When a content creator, motivated by gaining influence, chooses Excel as their topic of focus, how do they decide what to produce? Often, they may have limited real-world experience—perhaps a temp job here, a brief project there—and the content they create is based on their narrow perspective or simply what is trending. The result? Content that may be flashy, but often disconnected from the real-world demands of industry and business processes.
The problem deepens when creators—intentionally or not—ignore the existence of simpler, more powerful, and more scalable solutions to the problems they present. Imagine this scenario: you’re about to create a 10-minute video showcasing a method to solve a problem in Excel. If someone told you beforehand that there was an easier and more effective solution, would that change your approach? For many social media creators, the answer is no. Their goal is not necessarily to provide the best solution but to gain engagement. Whether the method they present is efficient or scalable often takes a backseat to the more immediate goal of attracting likes, shares, and comments.
Once a video is created and posted, and the views and reactions start rolling in, the content’s utility becomes irrelevant. The creator’s purpose has been served. Why would they care if there’s a better solution out there? They’ve already gained thousands of views and comments, which fuels their social media growth. And social media platforms, driven by algorithms that favor engagement, do not encourage the removal of outdated or misleading content. In fact, obsolete videos continue to garner views and mislead future viewers as a rule, not the exception.
This brings us to the heart of the issue: much of the Excel content found on social media is unreliable. The system is designed in a way that encourages misinformation. Content that was never intended to be a best practice goes viral, and before long, it becomes the mainstream approach. This can be highly damaging in a field like Excel, where business users rely on these tools for critical tasks. A technique that works in a specific situation for a novice user may not scale, be efficient, or even make sense in a larger, enterprise context.
Take, for example, Jordan Goldmeyer’s post from last year, where he claimed, “There’s nothing you can do with Access that you can’t do better with Excel.” This is a sweeping statement, far removed from reality, yet it sparked engagement because it was provocative. Social media thrives on such controversy, and the nuanced discussion around the practical applications of tools like Access versus Excel often gets lost. Similarly, viral Excel content creators, such as those focusing on new formulas like “Group By” or “Pivot By,” ride the wave of excitement over these features without necessarily providing the full context or practical implications.
The Excel influencer game is further incentivized by external recognition, such as Microsoft’s MVP award. However, being named an MVP doesn’t translate to financial success or expertise. It simply means that the individual has played the social media game well enough to get noticed. As we’ve established, being an influencer in any field doesn’t necessarily equate to being an expert.
So, what’s the solution? How can we combat this trend of misleading and unreliable content? It starts with recognizing the problem and being critical of the information we consume. It’s not enough to accept a viral video at face value. We need to ask: Is this method scalable? Is it efficient? Does it apply to the broader Excel user base? More importantly, we need reputable professionals with real-world experience to step in and offer alternative solutions—solutions that prioritize clarity, scalability, and practicality.
Creators like Dinesh Kumar Takyar, who has produced popular videos on stock control that have been watched 1.4 million times on YouTube, may be answering specific questions posed by viewers, but the danger arises when these one-off solutions become mainstream practices. When techniques meant for small-scale scenarios are applied indiscriminately, they become inefficient and obsolete, misleading large portions of the audience.
As professionals, we need to create content that transforms the narrative—content that is not only accurate but widely applicable and future-proof. This means challenging the status quo and offering better, more robust solutions. In the end, social media will continue to shape how people learn tools like Excel, but it is up to us, as experts and practitioners, to ensure that the information circulating is grounded in reality, not in the pursuit of fleeting influence.
This is not just a conversation worth having—it’s a conversation we must have, for the benefit of all who rely on Excel for their daily work. Let’s push for better standards and more responsible content creation, so that Excel users everywhere are empowered with the right knowledge, not misled by the viral trends of the day.
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