The Pinterest Pandemic

Have you caught the bug?  I’m talking about the latest craze to hit the internet airways at my house called Pinterest.  I’ve caught it bad but I just found my cure. 

I was only contaminated for about 4 weeks and the aftereffects are a permanent indention in the cushion on my chair.  I was one of the lucky ones.  Yesterday, while I was pinning (yes pinning--there is a whole new Pinterest vocabulary that has cropped up...more on that later), I found myself wondering why am I doing this?  Pinterest is basically an individual sport.  You can sit at your computer for hours looking at lovely things, reading inspirational words and drooling over yummy recipes.  Somehow, this lonely sport appealed to me.

For those of you who are not familiar with Pinterest (especially some of you guys), it’s an online virtual bulletin board that allows you to organize all the things you find on the internet that you love and share them with other pinners like yourself.  Here is a description of Pinterest I found while browsing the boards:

Pinterest is a fun reminder of the clothes I will never buy, the home décor I will never afford,  the recipes and crafts I am too busy (or lazy) to ever make, the places I’ll probably never go, the sayings I wasn’t clever enough to think of on my own, and the photos I wish I could take credit for but can’t.

This description speaks volumes to me.  Never buy.  Can’t afford.  Lazy.  Never go.  Not clever.  Can’t take credit.  All these negatives are almost too much for me to take.  But take it I did as I sat in front of my computer unable to control myself as I looked for the next great recipe, home décor, craft, or whatever.  Help!!  I needed a Pintervention!!

Which leads me to the fact that Pinterest has spurred new vocabulary that I’m sure Webster will add to their dictionary at some future point.  Words like:

·         Pinterruption:  the disruption caused by husband and children to get your attention while you are busy on Pinterest,

·         Pinoholic:  someone who can’t stop themselves from pinning,

·         Pintervention: when family and friends get together to talk to you about your pinning addiction,

·         Pinja ‘Vu: the feeling that you have pinned this before, and

·         Pinographer: A full-time pinner.

These Pinterest spawned words (and there are many more) may seem funny at first read, but some of them have a negative implication that you shouldn’t shake off lightly.  For me, they shed a new light on Pinterest and it was one of the reasons I felt I needed to get unaddicted, and fast.

Then yesterday a couple of things happened.  First, I got a text message from Verizon saying that I had used 90% of my data allowance and I still had a week to go before my billing cycle ended and I would get my new allowance.  I have a 5GB limit before they start charging me for going over.  I didn’t realize how much data I was using looking at all that stuff on people’s boards and pinning it to mine.  I was already feeling guilty for spending so much time on the computer.  Now I felt even worse.

Then, while browsing the boards yesterday, I stumbled upon a pin that said, “Dear Pinterest, please change your terms or I’m leaving.”  This peaked my interest so I went to the site and read what the article had to say.  Many of us (or maybe it’s just me) don’t take time to read the Terms of Use section when we sign up to use sites like Pinterest.  Therein lies the problem.  Did you know that when you agree to their Terms of Use, you are saying that you have permission to pin the graphics from the original source or that you are the owner of what you are pinning?  This is fine if you pin a photo that you yourself took and uploaded it to your board, but not fine if you found this beautiful picture of a sunset and zapped it onto your board of Beautiful Skies via the Pin It button.  But wait, there’s more.

You also agree to let Pinterest use (and sell) any image you have pinned…AND if someone should have a problem with that (say the owner of the photo) you agree to take all the blame financially AND pay for their legal fees should Pinterest incur any. 

Serious stuff.  Can you say “copyright infringement?”  Here is the link to the article I read.  I have also put this and another link on my Pinterest board.  http://www.knoed.com/thewindowseat/pinterest-change-your-terms-or-were-leaving/

With that said and done, I have decided to delete all my boards from Pinterest with the exception of the one warning others of the risks they may be taking by being a Pinterest user, which may or may not ever materialize.  This has solved both of my problems with one action and has made it very easy for me to get off the Pinterest bandwagon.  I enjoyed it while I was unaware of its negative aspects, but it’s time to say goodbye to that addiction (I have others I’ll hang on to for a while longer thank you very much.  Oh chocolate, don't worry. I'll never leave you!).  From now on, anything that I find on the internet that I really like, I will bookmark the site for future reference.

For those of you who have not yet caught the Pinterest bug, be forewarned, be aware and beware!  The tenth commandment says we are not to covet thy neighbor’s stuff.  Don’t get so caught up in Pinterest that it leaves you desiring more than you can afford, wishing for unrealistic dreams that will never come true, and drooling all over that nice shirt you just washed.  That's where I found myself headed and it happened way too easily.  It could happen to you too.

Be Blessed,

~ P