107. Pinterest, Shminterest : the top ten reasons to get rid of your Pinterest account

/ Apple Hill Cottage
Apologies to Pinterest addicts…

I spend a couple of hours a week on Pinterest.  I don’t check other people’s boards; I only pin something I like to my own. I have 15 boards, 212 pins and 17 followers. In the Pinterest World, I’m pretty much a nobody.

And that’s fine with me.

I started my Pinterest boards to keep track of ideas for each room in the cottage. As an idea file, it worked for awhile, until I wanted to get more specific. First came frustration, then estrangement, and now? I’m considering an annulment. I have done only one other top ten list, and it was a long time ago. So, here are:

The top ten reasons to get rid of your Pinterest account:

    10. Pinterest is a reflection of our self-absorbed, materialistic culture; it has very few benefits. It is classified as social media, but there is minimal social interaction. It might be a good place to store recipes, but so is your bookmarks folder. It might be a good place to store links to photos you like, but then the links don’t work. It should be useful as a design board, but see #7 below.

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    9. Your own uploaded photos don’t look as good as ones you pin from the internet. I have beautiful photos that I’ve uploaded and they look fuzzy and blurry on my boards. I think they do it on purpose.
    8. Pinterest is no respecter of copyright ownership or artistic integrity. Posted a cute photo? A good idea? Anyone can steal it under the innocent guise of pinning it to a board. I’ve done it myself. (Not lately.)
    7. You can’t move pins around on your boards. Want to move a lamp or a pillow next to the couch you pinned three months ago? Hah, just try it! Makes it useless as a design board.
    6. It actually keeps you from doing all those unfinished projects you already have stored in your craft room because you are too busy finding new and better items to do someday.
    5. It quadruples Envy Potential. I mean, everyone has a better brownie recipe than you, right? Quadruple chocolate pecan brownie bites with salted caramel sauce and double praline whipped cream. Make it in ten minutes And it’s gluten free.
    4. There is no longer any excuse to not do anything and everything yourself. See above… (This is a whole ‘nuther post — stay tuned!)
    3. Time-suck. Nothing more needs to be said here. (My daughter suggests this should be reason #3, reason #2, and reason #1…)
    2. It makes you think you are being creative by pretending. Pinning is not doing or making or creating.
    1. It creates Dissatisfaction by encouraging you to want things you don’t need — expensive new clothes, giant white kitchens, giant backyard party spaces, giant elegant bathrooms, giant expensive furniture, a giant collection of more trinkets and stuff, and a giant new craft room to do all the pins you’ve just pinned and will never do.

I don’t know about you, but I have enough of those unfinished projects without Pinterest helping me along. (I know this, because I have just thrown many of them out!)

I don’t know about you, but I have enough stuff. (I know this, because I have just thrown a lot of it out!)

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These are the unfinished projects that I kept…Yes, I threw just as many away. I know I am not alone in this; I wish I had all the money I’ve spent on craft projects that were never finished.

So as of today, I’m deleting the Pinterest link on my blog, and I’m getting rid of the Pin It button on my desktop. (That’s two of the twelve steps — is the next one apologizing to my unfinished projects?) 😊

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Take a stand against the tyranny of pins!

12 thoughts on “107. Pinterest, Shminterest : the top ten reasons to get rid of your Pinterest account”

  1. I am really glad I never got started with Pinterest. I was pretty sure I would spend too much time on it. Thanks for affirming my original thoughts!

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  2. I DO think time suck is a major reason! But your number 1 (which for me, ties very closely to number 5) is the best. Someone will always have better jeans than me, and I should just stop trying.

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  3. I’ll use this post as the Top 10 Reasons not to do whatever it is people do on whatever it’s called. My blog is my only social media…and sometime I question why I keep it going? The answer so far, I enjoy writing and reading the blogs I follow.

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    • I hear you. I know I spend too much time on it. But yes, I do like writing as well. I’ve never done Facebook and now I’m cutting out Pinterest too. It’s not the real world.

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      • I only had Facebook to keep tabs on my kids. Once they were “adults” (I’m still a kid at heart) I found Facebook to be pretty much useless. Facebook is not the real world. For some, Facebook allows them to remain connected to family and friends that are spread all over the place. My family is very small and we are all in the same area. As far a friends, I would rather have a face-to-face conversation with out a limit on the number of words I can use.

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  4. Lady, you could not be more right! I only use Pinterest to promote the blog and to store design ideas but it’s true that most of them are by pros, photographed by pros and requiring more work and money than I’ll ever care to give. Super true. And that envy thing? It’s out of control. OUT. OF. CONTROL. It’s like we’re playing in a game we are winning or losing and we don’t even know what the dang rules are.

    Having said all that…what do you think of original to the house 1950s metal kitchen cabinets? We are looking at an adorable home in Oregon that has the original cabinets–with the original oven, a solid metal door with no window, it’s adorable–but I don’t know whether to refinish or sell the cabinets??? They are currently yellow and baby poop brown, with the 1950s tile counter to match. No, I’m not kidding. I couldn’t make that up if I tried.

    This house…I can’t even explain. Built ins everywhere and a pass through, like a drive through window from the laundry room to the hallway! I’m not sure if that’s for the 1950s housewife with the clothes coming in or being picked up, lol. My husband is terrified of the house because of its age, but I think it’s lovely. I thought of you and the courage to fix it up. Any thoughts>

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    • All right, I know it’s earlier in CA, so I want to give you this website: http://www.retrorenovation.com
      All about 50s houses and you have to be true to them etc. Lots of great ideas and people who are mad for their fifties houses.
      Metal cabinets? Hmm. Sometimes the insides are really gross, but amazing things can be done these days with paint! But Husband has to be into it along with you.
      And keep that oven if you can — my neighbor down the street has a gorgeous old white 50s stove in pristine condition — and she’s a fantastic cook! (Isn’t it fun to look at houses?)

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      • Thank you! Yes, it is fun but frustrating too. We lost out on a 1940s cottage because it had a gabled second story and husband would not have been able to stand up in the bathroom. Or in the shower. Or the stairwell. He thought that was unacceptable, lol. I found an architect to tell us if we could make it right in a few years and preserve the character of the home, but in the meantime, it sold. This one is also too small for our family, but there’s plenty of land to make it bigger.

        And I do love the oven!

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        • HaHa — He thought standing up in the bathroom was important?
          Just remember, you didn’t miss out on a house — it just wasn’t supposed to be yours…
          and plenty of land — you don’t get that in SoCal…

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  5. I joined the band wagon and created an account last year. I’m sure glad I never got around to actually pinning anything. Now I just won’t bother.

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