Social media services like TikTok and Instagram have a habit of creating buzz around an industry and jigsaw puzzles might be the next one to go viral. The benefits of jigsaws have long been known, but maybe watching jigsaw videos can be just as therapeutic.
Jigsaws are often thought of as a solo pastime and for those that do take on a puzzle project, there are benefits to be had. Research has suggested jigsaw puzzles can help to exercise the brain, improve memory, and relieve stress. However, all of those benefits are for the person doing the jigsaw, not those tuning in on social media.
On the surface, jigsaw puzzles might not seem like an ideal topic for fast-paced social media platforms. This is even more true for TikTok which has proven especially popular with a younger audience. Instead, their slow progress seems better suited to YouTube. However, as MIT Technology Review highlights, not only are jigsaws starting to make waves on YouTube, but Instagram and TikTok users are also getting in on the action as well. The TikTok #jigsawpuzzle hashtag has already generated more than one million views and counting. While on Instagram, the same hashtag now has hundreds of thousands of posts to choose from. This is just for one social media hashtag with many similar tags also now starting to gain traction.
Are Jigsaws The Next Big Social Media Craze?
While it remains to be seen just how popular jigsaw puzzle posts will eventually become, the audience is building and partly thanks to the approach taken by the creators. For example, one of the themes that’s starting to appear more frequently is videos capturing the very moment the last piece of the puzzle is put in place. In one video, the uploader adds the last piece right before picking up the puzzle and that video has attracted 100s of comments. Many of which focus on the fear of the puzzle breaking into pieces and that’s telling. It seems viewers are getting satisfaction from watching other people complete something. In some ways, maybe even sharing in the success.
Another and more obvious reason why jigsaw puzzle posts are starting to gain in popularity is the finished product itself. With sites like Instagram being so heavy on imagery, the artwork involved is likely to appeal to a lot of people, and especially if it is more novel. Whether it is the work involved, the success of finishing, or the artwork, jigsaw posts seem to be therapeutic for a lot of social media users. That makes a change from social media often being blamed for the decline of user well-being.
Source: MIT Technology Review