Social media is a hot topic in today’s society, and it seems as though there is a medium that appeals to every personality. Facebook provides an outlet for social butterflies to flutter their virtual wings through picture updates, relationship status changes and life’s new happenings. Instagram is a photo editing medium that turns everyday photographers into professionals. Twitter allows people to stay connected through informative, funny and controversial status updates. But a relatively new social medium called Pinterest appears to have the most numerous options to appeal to various personalities.
Pinterest is a virtual pin board that provides a quick and easy way for users to organize and share the interesting things they find on the web, such as wedding ideas, home decorating ideas, favorite recipes, gardening tips and tattoos. There are 33 categories for users to organize their favorite “pins.” So rather than surfing the web again and again to find your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, Pinterest users can click on their “Food and Drink” board where they have saved the website linked to the recipe.
Pinterest also allows users to follow their friends so they can share ideas and favorite websites amongst each other.
Savannah Smart, student, says she is a frequent “pinner,” admitting to spending a couple of hours every day on the site.
“I set Pinterest as my homepage on my laptop,” Smart said. “It never gets old to me.”
Smart is not alone in her “pinning” habits. According to Smart, all of her friends use Pinterest as well.
“Our favorite things to “pin” are wedding ideas,” Smart said. “None of my friends are married yet, so it’s fun to see the different ideas that are out there.”
Smart enjoys Pinterest and “will be the first to admit” that she spends “way too much time” on the site.
“It’s a distraction when I’m trying to do homework,” Smart said. “Sometimes I don’t even use my laptop for homework because I know I’ll get on Pinterest.”
The Internet is just a finger click away now that the majority of students own smart phones, iPads and other Internet compatible electronic devices.
Joshua McGraw, senior, has noticed how much of a distraction Pinterest can be since he has started working as a Teaching Assistant on campus.
“I always knew students get on Facebook and stuff while in class, but now that I’m a TA I see it a lot more,” McGraw said.
McGraw says he has seen students use Pinterest more than the other social networking sites available.
“I guess it’s a good way to pass the time,” McGraw said. “I personally don’t get what’s so cool about it, but tons of people love it.”
Many professors across campus now enforce a “no laptop” rule in hopes of eliminating distraction, but even with these policies, students are still finding ways to access their Pinterest boards.
