TikTok tech: The rise of the Excel influencer
With Excel content racking up billions of views on TikTok and Instagram, Gen Z social media platforms have proved an unlikely ally for accountancy’s most-used software tool.
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I'm glad to see David and Simon being so appreciative of the TikTok influencers' efforts to engage a new generation with spreadsheets.
We all know how much Excel means to accountants and I have to admit to a bit of envy when I heard about the six-figure sums Miss Excel was generating with her TikTok posts. Granted they are linked to more grown-up training content, but I feel a bit of sympathy for the original "Mr Excel" Bill Jelen. I wonder what he feel about Miss Excel's income and instant MVP status?
Having plied these waters myself - and worked with Simon and David on a lot of tutorials - one of the 20 principles of the institute's good spreadsheet practice guide is to recognise that your approach to spreadsheets needs to be quite disciplined and based on a clear understanding of the data structures you're building and the purposes to which you will be applying them.
Can you really get all that methodological depth across in a series of 90sec videos? I am getting on a bit myself, but I still like a bit of hierarchical organisation and structure when I'm exploring a new tool (or consumer electronics product for that matter after a recent manual-free purchase). The random access "go and Google/TikTok it" approach can generate instant answers, but I'm not sure it gets across the broader landscape for something this complex.
Hi John, you make an excellent point, particularly in widening the discussion to the use of Google searches to find ad-hoc solutions. Without the structure and understanding that you talk about, a piecemeal approach can lead to the discovery of a solution that is the worst possible of many potential solutions. But, then, as someone used to delivering 3 hour lectures and full-day, hands-on training courses, I would say that wouldn't I?
However, I do think that even very short Excel tutorials, whether accompanied by dance moves or not, can be valuable in generating awareness of just how many ways there are of doing Excel better.
I have been avidly watching the content of self-professed accountants on TikTok for a year or so now and must say it's quite superb.