Pinterest

Fun, but kind of pointless. I do like Pinterest, but I don't think that I use it in the way that it's meant to be used. Let me explain.

Snapshot of my Pinterest homepage

First, I'll say the things I don't like. Then, I'll mention a couple good highlights, so y'all don't think I only complain.


1. I never pin things from the internet

From my understanding (correct me if I'm wrong), Pinterest is supposed to be used as a tool to organize things that you find on the internet. You can pin them into little categories, and go back and look at them later. It's kind of like a bookmarking site, only more visual/organized and you can share sites with people you know.

However, I feel like I'm not using Pinterest to its full potential, because the only things I ever pin are the things that show up on my feed. I guess I kind of use it like tumblr? And I think this is te way most people use Pinterest, though I definitely could be wrong. I just don't think about pinning things when I'm browsing the interweaves. If I did, then I think I would enjoy Pinterest more.

This shortcut gets no love. :(

This isn't really Pinterest's fault as much as it is mine, so this doesn't really count as a negative point, I guess. But I just thought I'd put it out there.


2. I don't know who to follow

Pinterest automatically adds all of your FB friends that are on Pinterest to who you're following. So, if you're like most of us and have hundreds of FB friends, the chances are that a good portion of them are going to be using Pinterest, and the volume is kind of overwhelming. I started unfollowing people at random, just because it got to be too much.

Water = the posts of all the people I was initially following
Arm = me

I would rather it work in the opposite way, where you start out following no one, and then you select people yourself. Sure, it may take more time, but it's a lot less scary.


3. I don't trust the people I follow

#kiddingnotkidding

I mean this only in the nicest way. But a lot of my friends have different tastes than I do. Just because they say this is the "best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever," doesn't mean I think it will be too. Additionally, a lot of people just repin things they think look good and plan on trying later. So I don't know if they actually tried something and it worked, or if they're going to try it later and it's actually horrible.

A side note: My mom thinks that someone should make an "elitist Pinterest" where famous people with good taste (like food critics, or restaurant owners, or fitness trainers) shared things and people could follow them. Have to say, it's not her worst idea. (Unlike her business plan to raise mill worms.)

Elitist Pinterest

4. Why can't you join?

I think it's ridiculous that Pinterest is modeled as some sort of elite group. Why do they pretend it's some sort of secret club? There's already one of those.

Pun is punny

But seriously. Who do they think they are, some kind of clubhouse? "Oh, don't have an invitation? Well, that's just too bad, isn't it?" I mean, what's the point? It's not like you can't join if you want to. You just have to get one of your friends to invite you. So why is this invitation step necessary if Pinterest doesn't actually care who joins? I'm sure there's some reasoning behind it, but I for one can't tell what that is.

*edit* So I just heard that Pinterest no longer requires an invitation to join (although I'm too lazy to actually verify this myself), but I likes my little Secret joke too much to delete this section, so it stays as an omage to Pinterest's old ridiculous policy. Okaybai. *edit*


5. I don't ever look at my pins

Again, this is more of a personal flaw than Pinterest's flaw. But seriously, even if I do look at my pins more than once, I NEVER do the things they suggest. Who has that time? And when I never act on it, Pinterest just becomes a huge vacuum for my free time. And I have enough of those as it is. COUGHdoctorwhoCOUGHschoolCOUGHanimeCOUGHkpopCOUGHbooksCOUGHpointlessorganizationCOUGH



Pinterest pluses, so that I'm not a complete Debbie-downer:

I think Pinterest is a cool, visual way to bookmark things you see on the internet. I think it's neat that you get to see what your friends' tastes and interests are. I don't think people use it to its full advantage. I think it has some really great ideas and tips on it.

Despite all of this, I am seriously considering either deleting my Pinterest account (If that's possible? Ugh, I hate it when sites don't let you delete your account!). If I have the time, I'll more likely delete all my pins, stop following everyone, and just use it as a handy way to categorize my bookmarks, which is the way I think it is best used.




tl;dr? If I used Pinterest the way I think it was meant to be used, it would probably be WAY more useful.