For many, hobbies are no longer interesting enough on their own. The books people read need to be shared. The routes they run are posted. Tracking apps have transformed self-reflection into self-comparison. 

Apps like Strava, NikePlus and MyFitnessPal focus on fitness, but the desire to track personal experiences goes beyond fitness. Apps like Letterboxd and GoodReads allow users to track and share books and movies that they have watched with friends.  

While many users say it increases their motivation, mental health experts warn that tracking apps can cause a dependency on statistics and anxiety over guilt. They can also make fitness, watching movies or listening to music feel like a chore. 

Sonja Phillips, a licensed social worker for a Wisconsin school district, said “constantly quantifying your activities can definitely cause some anxiety about pursuing excellence,” while also feeding into the “attention economy.”

Phillips says that the exposure to streaks and comparisons can cause users to feel pressured to stay productive or to keep posting. She said these apps can shift the motivation for exercising or reading away from personal enjoyment and towards validation. 

However, Phillips emphasized the motivation and community that these apps provide when used in moderation. She pointed out apps like Finch, a pet game for mental health and noted that this app doesn’t gamify hobbies but rather allows users to share their self care experiences.

While tracking apps can cause pressure to constantly measure parts of one’s hobbies, sharing interests doesn’t have to be harmful. Spotify Wrapped, for example, allows users to share their favorite music and artists without having to manually record it themselves. One of the best days each winter is the day Spotify Wrapped comes out. All of Instagram becomes flooded with your friends’ favorite artists and makes the daily doomscroll a little more interesting. 

However, what makes Spotify Wrapped so enjoyable is not just the list itself, it’s the conversation it creates. Tracking apps are best when they are used to bring people together under one interest. 

Rather than creating communities online for motivation or connections, users should host book clubs or local running groups to allow people to share their accomplishments and interests in real life without having to look at an online leaderboard and rank themselves.

Unlike traditional forms of social media, tracking apps are seen as modes of self improvement. However reading goals and weekly mileage goals can put pressure on the user to keep performing.

Anthony Lampasona, a frequent jogger from Milwaukee, says he enjoys the constant competition of these apps. 

“If I didn’t want that level of pushing, I wouldn’t subject myself to the app,” Lampasona said. 

Lampasona, who uses the NikePlus app to log his jogging, said that the app has a leaderboard that allows him to share and compete against his friends and family. 

“The leaderboard definitely motivates me because I can compare myself and push myself to do better,” he said. 

While tracking apps can be motivational, constant obsession over your ranking creates competition where it doesn’t need to exist. As tracking apps continue to expand to cover every possible hobby, the line between interest and performance will continue to blur. Though these apps can foster connection through competition, there is a point where hobbies can become chores. 

Sometimes, the best version of a hobby is the one you don’t track.

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