In his 1972 book Ways of Seeing, the novelist/art
critic John Berger notes that home bulletin boards, or pinboards, on which people
pin letters, snapshots, reproductions of paintings, newspaper cuttings,
original drawings, and postcards, are like personal museums. Forty years later,
Pinterest has become the personal museum of millions around the world.
Launched three years ago, Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that allows users
to create and manage theme-based image collections of events, interests,
hobbies, etc. Users create and categorize “boards” containing images of their
interests, browse each other’s boards and “re-pin” their images to their own boards,
or simply “like” photos. The boards can be as personal and specific as the individual
creating them (“Hobbit Safety Videos,” for example), but the most popular Pinterest
categories are Food & Drink, Do-It-Yourself and Crafts, Women's Fashion,
Home Decor, and Travel. As of last year, 83% of the users globally were women. The
age range, at least in the U.S., was generally 35-44.
Unlike other social media which emphasize social connectedness,
Pinterest is, above all, a place for personal
inspiration. It is, as Pinterest
describes itself simply but brilliantly, “a tool for collecting and
organizing things you love.” Nathaniel Perez of
Fast Company writes about Pinterest’s vast appeal and how it differs
from sites such as Facebook and Twitter:
With Pinterest, it’s the things we like that
connect us. It's a natural propensity, one that mimics the way we behave with
our connections in real life...
[W]hile other social networks have largely focused
on static sharing behaviors (think “liked,” “stumbled,” “digged,” “read,”
“watched” and “checked in,” all [in] a “timeline”), Pinterest is focused on
fluidly bringing users together through visual discovery, while connecting them
to the stories and authors behind “pins,” whether they be trusted friends,
interesting strangers, or brands thinking creatively.
Initially, I couldn’t see the
appeal of simply adding images to an online board, but as its popularity
skyrocketed in 2012 and my own wife began obsessing over it, I tried Pinterest
to see what all the hoopla was about. I quickly understood its potential not
only for inspiration and creativity, but for private, personal expression. My
Pinterest page is anonymous, because, after being awash in the social
interaction of Facebook and Twitter, I wanted to experiment with an intensely
personal online space utterly separate from anything and anyone with whom I
currently interact. My page is solely a reflection of, and a personal refuge
within, my own private interests. That’s a valuable need for people who may need
to detach themselves periodically far from the
madding crowd of other social media.
On the down side, some see
Pinterest, with its near absence of text, as the swelling tide of a visual
future in which images supersede words, like the Middle Ages when iconography
was the literacy of the masses. For someone as devoted to the Word as myself,
this is a disturbing prospect and all the more reason why the written word must
not be taken for granted. But for better or worse, the momentum of the future
lies with Pinterest.
(This article originally appeared here on Acculturated, 3/26/13)
