Last week, I posted a short video of me completing a unique and challenging puzzle not expecting it to become so popular. In one week, across all the social media platforms I posted on (Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook), the video got 13 million views. “Going viral” is having a piece of content get a lot of views within a short timeframe. My video certainly did that. It is also the dream of many people who post to social media. As I write this now, things are calming down but it still isn’t exactly over.
Reflecting on this experience, I wanted to share some observations.
If you haven’t seen the reel yet, it’s here:
There is no magic formula.
One of the first questions my friends asked me was, “What was your secret?” My secret is there is none. The video I posted had no trending music, did not show my face, wasn’t dramatic or funny, and didn’t have any editing aside from adding captions. Granted, the puzzle itself was visually appealing, and it probably helped build suspense (unintentionally) that I struggled with putting in the final piece with one hand, but aside from that, there wasn’t anything outstanding.
People engage for various reasons.
What I did learn from the comments – especially as more people responded – was that there was a social media cultural backstory that I hadn’t been aware of when I posted. Apparently a couple years ago, during the pandemic, there had been a trend where people (mostly women) would be just about to complete their puzzle when someone (usually their male partners, sometimes cats) would push the puzzle onto the ground, shattering it. Some people watched my video anticipating the same thing to happen. Others watched because they either loved or hated puzzles.
The emotional high is short lived.
The first day when things were picking up speed, it was thrilling to watch the numbers climb. But by the third day around the 6 million mark, I noticed I wasn’t so excited any more. In fact, part of me was waiting for the wave to end and life to go back to normal. As the views on TikTok and Facebook stalled, I found myself waiting for Instagram to subside as well (which it didn’t for a couple more days). Paradoxically, I also kept looking to see if it would hit the next milestone number. One would think that the higher the number, the more exciting it is, but that wasn’t the case.
Comments are reflections of the viewers, not me.
There’s a saying, “Don’t read the comments section.” So of course I read the comments section. Thankfully, most of the comments showed common courtesy and only a handful were mean. Some people had questions as to my strategy and how long it took. Many of the responses ranged from “I need this puzzle” to “Nope, not for me.” And two prevailing responses were “Make it permanent!” or “Destroy it!” When I found myself bothered by people inferring that I was “mindless,” “psychotic,” or “masochistic,” for attempting a difficult puzzle, I realized that the comments were really a reflection of the other person’s ignorance or lack of curiosity, not a reflection of me.
I’m glad I posted a wholesome narrative.
After learning about the past trend of people’s puzzles getting destroyed, I felt very glad that I posted an actual puzzle completion. As much as the shock factor can get eyeballs on content, meanness is not something I can ever get behind. Reading many comments about people feeling traumatized by past videos and feeling anxious watching mine, I am grateful that the story I told was one of wholeness. I had no idea who was going to see my video when I posted it or what effect it would have on them. It affirmed for me the importance of posting content in line with my values. I hope that at least for some people, my video was a little piece of redemption and a counter-cultural pinprick of light.
Going viral is ridiculously distracting.
I posted to Instagram on Tuesday evening, not thinking much of it, and was surprised to see nearly 20,000 views the next morning. Wednesday and Thursday were spent frequently refreshing the stats because watching the numbers climb was honestly really fun. It took a lot of discipline not to obsessively check past bedtime (thankfully, we keep our phones in the kitchen to charge at night). Still, being on my screen all day long affected my ability to sleep. Trying to work or be present to my family was hard. It pulled me away from my immediate in-person life and took up hours that I could have used for more meaningful things (like doing more puzzles! Just kidding… Sort of…). Part of me knew that an online video is pretty frivolous, but another part of me wanted the dopamine hits.
It matters and it doesn’t.
Speaking of frivolity, one commenter made the observation that puzzles are a problem first world people create for themselves. I think there’s an element of truth to that but it’s not the whole story. For me, puzzles are a way for me to calm my brain down because it’s usually on overdrive. Having a video about puzzles go viral isn’t world-changing and doesn’t matter in the same way that something hefty, like human rights or global issues does. As I write this, a collective 4 years and 238 days of people’s time on Instagram alone has been spent watching me put a shiny piece of plastic into a hole. And yet, several million little points of connection between humans can’t be dismissed as nothing either.
Capitalism is ingrained in us.
Having a video about someone else’s product get so much attention definitely surfaced some pangs of envy. “If only it was my art that went viral!” I found myself saying. And, “If only I got paid for these views!” But as I thought about it, I realized that was capitalism’s influence; not everything has to be about maximizing profits. An alternative is what I call an economy of grace – one that operates out of an abundance mentality instead of scarcity. If I believe that God takes care of all my needs (and that has been true so far in my life), what does it matter if I shine a spotlight on someone else’s work for a week? In actuality, I did nothing to get views, I didn’t “deserve” any compensation. With this perspective, I didn’t have to feel resentful. There is enough grace for everyone, including me.
Maybe it was divine mischief.
The final thing I’ve taken away from this experience is probably the most profound and might be the point of this whole experience for me. At the start of this year, I decided that VOICE would be my word of the year. I chose this word with the intention of exploring, owning, and expressing my artistic voice as well as other aspects of myself. It felt like wink from heaven that my literal voice has now been heard by millions of people. (“You want your voice to be heard? OK, let’s do it!”) I suppose this is a classic case of be careful what you ask for. ;) In any case, my voice is out there now and there’s no going back.
Conclusion
Going viral may be something people strive for because it seems exciting and life-changing – I know in the past I had hoped it would happen to me. But having experienced it, I wouldn’t really ask for it again. While it’s been fun especially for my husband to analyze the stats, it has consumed more of our time and attention than we care to admit.
After this has blown over, my life will go on as usual. I have been promised some puzzles as a thank you from the puzzle company who got a ton of free advertising because of me. But our finances won’t have changed. Sadly. (Even my kids were like, “If you got one cent for every view…!). I will have gained some new followers on Instagram and Facebook, but who knows how many will stick around and whether they will even see my future posts, let alone consider buying my art. And yet, I still want to believe that for a brief 30-ish seconds, my reel brought wonder and goodness to each person watching. So maybe it was worth it?