A swipe file records structures that made you pause: a reveal, comparison, question-led carousel, or before-and-after. Save the source to study its structure—not lift words, footage, design, or claims.

By the end, you will have a 20-entry file and first pattern-mining note in a document you control.

// concept

Separate the Format From the Content

Content is the creator’s footage, script, examples, hook wording, graphics, and music. Format is the abstract sequence underneath it. “Open with a costly mistake, show the fix in three steps, end with a checklist” is a format. Reusing the original hook, shots, examples, and visual treatment is copying.

Test whether you can describe the principle without quoting the post or attaching its media. If not, you captured content, not a format. A permitted research screenshot is not a production asset. Check official copyright guidance before reusing third-party material.

// concept

Build an App-Independent Source Log

Platform bookmarks remain trapped inside separate apps. Make a Google Sheet, database, or local spreadsheet your source of truth. In Google Sheets, Data > Data validation > Add rule creates dropdown tags; confirm the current path in official help.

Use one row per post:

Field	What to record
ID	`SW-001` through `SW-020`
Saved date	Date you inspected it, in `YYYY-MM-DD`
Source	Direct link; add a private screenshot filename only if needed and permitted
Platform	Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, or other
Format tag	Structural label such as `mistake→fix`, `3-part demo`, or `myth→evidence`
Why it stopped me	Observable reason, not “it went viral”
Reusable principle	The sequence you can rebuild with your own material
Rights status	`reference only`, `permission obtained`, `licensed`, or `my original`
Original adaptation	Your topic, evidence, hook, and production approach

Never call it a “winning format” without dated evidence. Your pause is not performance proof.

// concept

Mine Patterns Monthly, Not Post by Post

After 20 entries, filter by Format tag. Give AI only shareable text fields—never upload creators’ screenshots or private messages without permission. Use this prompt:

// prompt — copy me15 lines

You are analysing my swipe-file metadata, not the creators' assets.
Group repeated FORMAT structures. Ignore topics, names, exact hook wording,
visual identity, music, and performance claims.

For each group return:
1. format name and IDs;
2. sequence of beats;
3. why the structure may have stopped my scroll, labelled as a hypothesis;
4. one original test for my audience;
5. any rights or evidence warning.

Do not reproduce source wording. Do not call a pattern successful from my notes alone.
<entries>
[paste exported text columns]
</entries>

Make one decision: “Four entries reveal the consequence before the cause. I will test that sequence in an original electricity-bill explainer.” Label it a hypothesis.

// worked_example

Worked Example

These are labelled samples for a fictional Lahore stationery creator:

ID	Source/platform/date	Format tag	Why it stopped me	Rights	Original adaptation
SW-001	`[source link]` / Instagram / 2026-07-18	`mistake→fix→checklist`	Error appears in frame one	reference only	Show a blurred-ink mistake using my own pen test
SW-002	`[source link]` / YouTube / 2026-07-18	`question→3 demos→verdict`	One question organises three tests	reference only	Compare my own notebook paper with a stated test method
SW-003	`[source link]` / LinkedIn / 2026-07-18	`claim→evidence→limit`	Limitation follows the evidence	reference only	Explain a restock choice using my own dated order log
SW-004	`[source link]` / TikTok / 2026-07-18	`friction→reveal→steps`	Problem is visible before the product	reference only	Stage my own desk-clutter problem and film new footage

The bad adaptation was: “Use SW-004’s opening sentence, same shots, text positions, and similar audio.” That copies execution.

They fixed it with this actual brief:

// prompt — copy me5 lines

Using only the abstract sequence friction→reveal→steps, draft a 25-second
original video about organising loose school notes. My evidence is my own desk
demonstration. Write a new hook, propose three shots I can record myself, and
avoid the source's wording, framing, graphics, music, and claims.
Label any effectiveness explanation as a hypothesis.

The new outline—an original messy-note close-up, folder reveal, then filing actions—keeps only the sequence. No source assets enter the edit.

// failure_cases

Failure Cases to Diagnose

6 cases to diagnose

Topic tags replace format tags
food or fashion cannot reveal structure. Add a sequence such as problem→3 options→choice.
Screenshot without a link or date
you cannot recover context or inspect later changes. Save the URL and inspection date together.
“It went viral” in the reason column
this is an unsupported performance claim. Write what you personally observed, such as “the result appeared before the explanation.”
Rights column is blank
treat the item as reference-only until permission or a licence is documented.
Adaptation keeps distinctive wording or shots
reduce the source to beats, close it, then script from your own evidence and footage.
Only one platform supplies the file
app culture can masquerade as a universal pattern. Collect across at least three platforms before mining.

// pakistan_angle

Pakistan Angle

Put regional context in your adaptation. A Karachi home-business order flow, Lahore university commute, and Peshawar family retail setup are not interchangeable. Record the audience and language mix; do not use chai, rishta, traffic, or load-shedding as automatic decoration.

WhatsApp Status may contain format clues, but a forwarded clip is not a rights grant. Never save customer phone numbers, faces, voice notes, CNIC details, or private chats. Ask before featuring a person and create fresh media. On weak connectivity, capture the URL and a text note instead of downloading someone’s video.

// hands_on

Hands-On Exercise

6 steps

Create the nine-column sheet above and set dropdowns for platform, format tag, and rights status.
Collect exactly 20 entries, numbered SW-001 to SW-020, from at least three platforms. Save links and dates in your own sheet, not only in platform bookmarks.
For every row, write one structural format tag, one observable stopping reason, and one reusable principle.
Mark each rights status. Use reference only unless you can document another status.
Write an original adaptation for every entry without copying text, media, claims, or design.
Export the text fields, run the monthly prompt, and save a note naming one repeated pattern and one original test. Done means all 20 IDs exist, no required cell is blank, source assets are absent from production folders, and the first pattern-mining note is attached.

// completion_rubric

Completion Rubric

5 checks — tick as you verify

0/5

// sources

Sources

4 official sources — check every claim yourself

// check_yourself

Check yourself

4 questions · answers and options are taken word-for-word from this course

0/4

1 / 4 · diagnose
Your work shows this failure mode: “Topic tags replace format tags.” The lesson describes it like this: “`food` or `fashion` cannot reveal structure.” What does the lesson tell you to do about it?