The question isn't why these hobbies are becoming popular. The real question is: what are people looking for that they're not finding elsewhere? At some point, we stopped allowing ourselves to enjoy things just because we enjoyed them. If you liked taking photographs, someone told you to start a photography page. If you enjoyed baking, you should probably sell cakes. If you painted, maybe you could turn it into a side hustle. Somewhere along the way, hobbies became projects.