Pinterest: My New Social Media Addiction

As if I needed to waste more time on social media sites than I already do, Ben Silbermann had to go and invent Pinterest.

If you haven’t heard of Pinterest yet, you’ve probably been living under a rock, but I’ll go ahead and explain the concept anyway. Pinterest is basically a digital vision board—a place to collect pictures of things that inspire you, such as fashion, quotes, colors, recipes, DIY projects, etc. Pinterest allows you to digitally collect images and “pin” them to various boards that you organize into categories. The best part is you can share your vision boards with anyone. You can choose to follow your friends’ vision boards, but you can also view and share boards with complete strangers, which is a great way to gain new ideas.

All “pinned” photos link back to the original site where they were found; so you can revisit the site and bookmark it for future reference. I used to have to sift though magazines and books and visit craft stores to make my vision boards, but now Pinterest allows me to create vision boards while lying in bed in my pj’s!

Pinterest has become especially popular with women in the 18-30 age range. I think the site is so appealing because it is very user friendly, and it allows you to share multiple aspects of your personality in a very visual way. You can create boards dedicated to your sense of style, books you love, places you want to visit, and quotes that inspire you. It also appeals to those who are organizationally-minded. Several of my friends created Pinterest accounts to help them organize ideas for their weddings and decorating ideas for their homes.

But Pinterest isn’t just for women. I’ve heard several guys admit to visiting the site daily because you don’t have to create an account to view what people “pin.” If you haven’t already, I highly recommend visiting this site. It may be just what you needed to cure your creative block.

For more information about the creator of Pinterest, check out this article from USAToday.

By Lauren O’Brien