I recently opened a Pinterest account because I'm a 27 year internet fiend, so why not? Quite a few of my friends are deeply in love with their Pinterest, and it felt like something that I would like. Fancy crafts! Wedding dresses! Pictures of trees!
I'm honestly surprised that it hasn't caught my interest in the way I thought it might. As much as I enjoy amassing pictures of cats and sparkly dresses (Lord knows that I do), the whole thing feels kind of sterile. I feel like the little boxes aren't large enough to have a conversation, and most of the posters I follow are strangers so I don't have that much to say to them anyways.
Having strangers repin a picture of Ariel that I repinned from another stranger's board just isn't all that fulfilling. Even though the site is ostensibly meant to spread ideas from one person to another, I don't feel like it's creating the sense of community that is at the heart of Facebook, Livejournal, or blogs.
I think the need for community is the reason that I'm so attached to the internet, even as it sometimes keeps me from building real community. Nursing school keeps me indoors an awful lot, and I relish being able to keep up with my old friends in a fast, convenient way. Facebooking isn't as intimate as a phone call, but it's certainly the easiest way to keep up with 600 people at once. I feel like Pinterest is based on the idea of creating communities with similar interests, but you aren't actually learning anything new about your follwers or connecting with them on any real level.
While I'm not planning on closing my Pinterest account (like I said, I do love pictures of cats), I don't see it becoming a big part of my internet life. My last week on Pinterest has actually encouraged me to try to spend more of my time making new things. I recently started doing little watercolors again, and I'm making an attempt to reestablish this blog. I realized recently that nursing school will be over in a few months, and that I don't want to finish May feeling like I've frittered away all of my creativity over the last few years into witty status updates. I don't have any big plans, but I'd like to spend more of my time reading interesting, edifying books or creating something new, even if it isn't that schmancy. It will do me good to be more open and more nurturing with myself. After all, I'm the only me I have.
