What Did A Viral TikTok Teach Me?

September 1, 2025

I’m constantly online. And as it happens, I like to experiment and try new trends and tricks with social media. Here is how one cabbage photo made me rethink the way I approach content creation.

As of today, 01.09.25, this is how many people have seen my single image post, and around 44,200 people have liked it.

Giving you some context

So, I have 2 TikTok accounts. One for work, I created first, and another one for fun and hobbies, I created later.

In the meantime, I also purchased a game that everyone was recommending to me.

While growing up, I used to play all “boyish” games like:

  • Need for speed
  • Counter Strike
  • Half-life (wow, this is old) 😅
  • Mortal kombat
  • Plants vs Zombies

But now that I had my adult money, I decided to check what's popular on Steam and after playing a couple of cosy games like:

  • My time at Portia
  • Genshin Impact
  • Palia

It was time to finally buy Stardew Valley. And oh my, what did I get myself into? 😁

What is Stardew Valley, and why is it important for this social media viral moment?

Seems wholesome and cute, but it is also quite addictive! 😅 And I blame the user experience 100%.

Stardew Valley is a very wholesome and well-designed pixel game that has overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam because of the amount of thought and detailed work put behind it.

From the graphics and dialogues, to the intricate story plots of some of the characters, to the fascinating galloping sounds of my 2D horse!

In the beginning, I was really considering whether I should even buy it because I hadn’t played pixel games before and wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it. Well, safe to say I am kinda obsessed with it. 😁

The game has the power to consume you and make you lose track of time. Some users report having dreams about the game. When I saw that, I was like:

Yeah, right, this is too much. I don’t believe it.

And that’s until it didn’t happen to me! Embarrassing, I know, thinking my brain is resistant to getting hooked on a cute, cosy game.

What happened next?

I attended a free webinar at the beginning of that same week on the topic of Energy Marketing. ✨ If you are also going:

Energy Marketing? What’s that? I haven’t heard about it before.

I haven’t either, but long story short, it goes deep into who you are as a person, what your beliefs are, and how you materialise your inner issues, fears, dreams and wishes in your business.

It helps you balance your energy and attract your ideal clients by aligning yourself with what you want, but most importantly, with what you believe.

In one segment of the webinar, there was a mention of Inspired Action.

This is where my idea of the post came along. After playing the game for a long time (70 hours), I realised that I needed red cabbage for one of my bundles in the Community Centre to unlock something that would be later important for the game.

There it is, the red cabbage in the Dye Bundle.

My mind fired up with the recognition of finding something in real life that I needed for the game. 💡

The Tetris effect, or the science behind it

The Tetris Effect is a phenomenon where spending extensive time on a repetitive activity causes that activity’s patterns, images, and thoughts to manifest in one’s mind even when not engaged in the activity itself. Named after the classic video game Tetris, it can result in people seeing falling blocks in their mind’s eye, having dreams about the game, or experiencing altered real-world perception. This effect is rooted in the brain’s neuroplasticity, its ability to adapt and form new connections in response to consistent behaviour and experience. — Wikipedia

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the secret behind the success of this viral post!

The fact that other gamers and not only Stardew players, have experienced this and find it funny and extremely relatable.

The joke in my post was that: I saw the cabbage, my mind made the connection, and I bought it, knowing that I don’t need it in this reality. 😅

How might this help my work content creation?

I will be listening and looking closely for this inspired action urge, and next time I think:

Oh, this is funny. I wonder if anyone feels the same way.

And I will most definitely act on this inspired urge and post, without overthinking it. Just for fun. Because my energy then won’t be calculated, polished or overthought.

I will also look and see if there is a Tetris effect that I can recognise that mixes work life and real life in any type of way. And of course, experiment even more.

So, how did you like this story? ☺️

Do you play any games?

Have you had a similar experience?

Let me know in the comments!

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