A few thoughts:
What practical uses can exist?
Discovery: We might find tools, trends, or ideas you hadn’t thought of.
Networking: Sometimes a comment or DM leads to a useful connection.
Distribution: If we use it to share your own work, it’s free marketing.
Quick hacks: Occasionally we pick up a small tip that’s easy to apply.
But these are rare compared to the hours of passive watching.
Should we be aware of these traps?
Context mismatch: A motivational reel may assume we have a team, money, or any other circumstances that we don’t have. Applying it to our setup doesn’t work, so it stays abstract.
Nagging “not enough”: Constant exposure to “10x hacks” and “morning routines” leaves us feeling we’re behind, rather than actually moving our work forward.
Illusion of progress: Watching feels like working on ourself, but nothing changes in practice.
Why does it hit solopreneurs/entrepreneurs harder?
Most of our lives are lonely – we have to face and solve our problems alone. The few fortunate have mentors/ colleagues who can listen and provide feedback.
When we don’t have colleagues, social media often fills the “conversation gap.” It becomes both the teacher and the mirror. But because it’s one-way and generic, it rarely fits our exact context. That mismatch turns into self-doubt instead of action.
What is a healthier frame?
Treat social media like a toolbox, not a classroom. Dip in, pick one thing, try it, leave.
Keep a “test list”: whenever you see an idea, note it down. If it’s still relevant in a week, try it. If not, drop it.
Use it more to publish than consume. Share our journey, even small steps. That flips it from nagging comparison to active creation.
Can/Should I Track my activity?
If I want to track my activity is there any tool which gives me a list of social media content which I liked in a text format or csv format to monitor if I actually used any of it?
Tools that give you your “liked” content list
YouTube
Our “Liked Videos” playlist is automatically created.
We can export it with Google Takeout into CSV/JSON.
Or use a tool like Export YouTube Liked Videos to CSV (Chrome extension).
Twitter/X
Liked tweets can be exported via Twitter data download.
The file comes as JSON/CSV, which you can filter for “likes.”
Instagram
The app shows your saved/recently liked posts (Settings → Account → Your activity → Likes).
We can also request a download of all your data (Settings → Privacy and security → Download data). That gives you a JSON/CSV.
LinkedIn
Same thing: you can request “Download your data” in Settings. It includes likes, posts, comments.
A possible simple monitoring process?
Once a month, export your likes.
Put them in Google Sheets or Excel.
Add the following columns:
FeasibilityZeroCapital: can try with ₹0 or near zeroEasyToImplement : can try today with your current skillsLowTime : under 30 minutesOneDayTest : can pilot in a dayReusable : can keep using monthly
ContextSales Ops HR Dev Finance Personal
Risk / ProofLowRisk : will not break existing workHasProof : there is a clear example or numbersHypeOnly : motivational, no concrete steps
Did I Use this?
Add one column: “Did I use this in my work/life?” (Yes/No).
At the end of the quarter, check what % you actually applied.
This will show you if social media is giving you “nutrition” or just “snacks.”
Is there a Lightweight alternative with no export fuss?
Keep a “Liked Ideas Log” in Notion, Google Keep, or even a WhatsApp group with yourself.
Whenever you like something, paste the link or note it down manually.
Then review weekly: “Did I try this?”
It’s less automated but forces you to be selective.
Enjoy social media, and spend our most valuable currency, time, with awareness