Social Media Saves Crafts from Extinction after Popularity Flourishes

New research reveals the eight crafts saved from extinction after their popularity flourished across social media platforms.

• Eight crafts have been added to the Heritage Crafts Association’s ‘currently viable crafts’ list this year, of which Macramé is the most popular
• Macramé has been hashtagged 8.9 million times on Instagram and viewed 683.3 million times on TikTok
• Candle making is the second most popular with 1.3 billion views on TikTok and an average of 54,000 Google searches per month

Creative resource Design Bundles analysed factors relating to popularity for the eight crafts that have been added to the Heritage Crafts Association’s ‘currently viable crafts’ list this year, including Instagram hashtags, TikTok views, and YouTube uploads.

Index ScoreRank	Craft	Number of Google Searches (Globally)	TikTok Hashtag Views	Instagram Hashtags	Number of YouTube Videos (Past year)
1	Macrame	432,000	683,300,000	8,600,000	9,587
2	Candle Making	54,000	1,343,300,000	1,518,900	2,962
3	Bead working	20	137,400,000	1,630,000	793

The knotting technique Macramé came out on top, scoring the highest out of all the crafts for Google searches, the number of Instagram hashtags, and the number of YouTube videos. On average Macramé is searched 432,000 times a month globally – nearly 380,000 times more than the second-ranking craft. 

It also proves to be the most Instagrammable out of the crafts with 8.6 million hashtags on the platform, which is nearly seven million more than the next craft. In the past year, there have been 9,587 YouTube videos uploaded specifically relevant to macramé. It scored the second-highest of the crafts for TikTok hashtags with the number of views totalling 683.3 million.

In second place is candle making, which has the most coverage on TikTok with 1.3 billion views (the highest out of the eight crafts). The craft is the second most searched on the list with an average of 54,000 Google searches per month. It also ranks second for the number of YouTube videos, with the hashtag being used on 2,962 YouTube videos in the past year. The two most relevant hashtags on Instagram total 1,518,900 uses.

In third is bead working, which despite being the least Googled craft, proved to be popular across social media. It ranks third for TikTok views, Instagram hashtags, and YouTube videos, with 137.4 million hashtag views, 1.63 million hashtags, and 793 videos on YouTube respectively. Bead working covers many different techniques used to string beads together to create items such as art and jewellery.

A spokesperson for Design Bundles commented on the research, “Each of these crafts is rich in skill and culture so it is very exciting to see them being moved to the ‘viable crafts’ category. It shows that the time, effort, and funding put into making sure these crafts can be passed along to future generations is paying off. It is also wonderful to see the prevalence of each craft across social media as this potentially increases awareness to new generations and hopefully encourages continued preservation.”

 Following on from bead working is lapidary in fourth. The craft relates to methods of engraving, cutting, and shaping precious stones for use in areas such as jewellery or the creation of other decorative items. On average lapidary is Googled 26,000 times per month. It has received 40.8 million views on TikTok and 1.62 million hashtags on Instagram. In the past year, 327 YouTube videos have been uploaded using the hashtag ‘#lapidary’.

The fifth spot is taken by Islamic Calligraphy which receives an average of 17,000 Google searches per month. It ranks fifth for the number of TikTok views with 13.4 million views for the top two relevant hashtags. Islamic calligraphy is the practice of artistic handwriting in languages with Islamic heritage. The art form has been hashtagged 535,500 times on Instagram, and 345 times on YouTube videos.

In sixth is Intaglio, a method of printmaking where an image is cut into a printing plate and replicated using ink. On TikTok, the craft received nearly 11 million hashtag views. It is the third most Googled craft on the list, receiving an average of 27,000 searches per month globally. It has been hashtagged 320,000 times on Instagram and 191 times on YouTube videos. 

In seventh place is the art of corset making, which scored the lowest out of all the crafts for the number of Instagram hashtags with 86,800, and the second-lowest for Google searches (350 per month) and YouTube videos (31 hashtags). It did however rank fourth for TikTok hashtag views, receiving 32.9 million views for the top two relevant hashtags.

Last on the list is darkroom photography in eighth place, the traditional method of printing photographs, whereby a red light is used in a completely dark room to preserve the light-sensitive photography film used. On average, darkroom photography is Googled 3,000 times per month. It has received 297,000 hashtag views on TikTok and 127,190 hashtags on Instagram. On YouTube, the relevant hashtag has been used on 19 videos uploaded in the past year.

Index ScoreRank	Craft	Number of Google Searches (Globally)	TikTok Hashtag Views	Instagram Hashtags	Number of YouTube Videos (Past year)
1	Macrame	432,000	683,300,000	8,600,000	9,587
2	Candle Making	54,000	1,343,300,000	1,518,900	2,962
3	Bead working	20	137,400,000	1,630,000	793
4	Lapidary	26,000	40,800,000	1,652,000	327
5	Islamic calligraphy	17,000	13,428,900	535,500	345
6	Intaglio	27,000	10,926,000	320,000	191
7	Corset Making	350	32,900,000	86,800	31
8	Darkroom Photography	3,000	297,560	127,190	19

The analysis was carried out by Design Bundles which offers high-quality premium design resources and a marketplace that allows graphic designers to register and sell their products.

Methodology: 

The Heritage Crafts Association places crafts into one of four categories based on how likely they are to survive being passed down to the next generation. The four categories are ‘extinct’, ‘critically endangered’, ‘endangered’, and ‘currently viable’. The crafts on this list have all been added to the ‘currently viable’ category this year, as they now have sufficient means to pass on the required skills to the next generation.

• Searched for values related to popularity – Number of Google searches they receive globally per month, the number of TikTok hashtag views for the top two relevant hashtags, the number of Instagram hashtags for the top two relevant hashtags, and the number of Youtube videos using the relevant hashtag in the past year.
• A 10-point scale was used to calculate rankings for each factor, with the best score receiving 10 points, and the following crafts scored relative to the top value. 
• Average scores were calculated across the factors, revealing overall rankings with higher scores being more preferable.

Further information can be found by clicking on the link https://designbundles.net/ who commissioned the data.