I’ve always known I'm not “tech-savvy;” however, when my friend told me about the website called Pinterest I thought there might be hope for me and my technology use. At first, I had a difficult time understanding how to operate my virtual bulletin boards, but I quickly figured out how to categorize boards and “pin” different images to the corresponding titled board.


I have enjoyed Pinterest because it allows me to quickly search anything ranging from craft ideas to popular places to travel. How is this different, not to mention better, than google? Rather than having to bookmark favorite web pages, by “repining” websites or posts all of the images I have liked are in one location and neatly organized.

Rather than buying cookbooks and taking chances on random recipes, Pinterest allows me to search recipes and see what other “bloggers” have written about them. The ability to view other peoples’ opinions helps me determine whether or not I want to “re-pin” the recipe and store it for later use.


This website has also allowed me to constantly add variations to my workouts as there are always new cardio, abdominal, and arm workouts appearing on my homepage. My friends aren't always thrilled when I say I found a new workout on Pinterest because they know they're about to be sore for the next few days! Being able to adjust my routine keeps my workouts interesting and motivates me to exercise more often.

I've heard several stories of unsuccessful pins such as a recipe gone wrong or a link that leads to an unavailable website, but I have had far too many useful pins to let this rare occurrence stop me from using Pinterest. This summer when I wasn't traveling I spent some time trying out new craft ideas and many of these came from Pinterest. My favorite things I made this summer were yarn-wrapped letters for my roommates. I used the example I found on Pinterest (the pink A) and made my own version to match our apartment decor. Although I didn't exactly copy the example, I probably wouldn't have been able to come up with the idea on my own!


While Pinterest isn't communicating in the sense of messaging friends back and forth, I feel "plugged in" when I use it because it allows me to see what my friends are interested in and it also keeps me up to date with the latest style trends. Pinterest is beneficial and unique because it's a social search engine that is made up of actual people. Unlike many of the other technology networks such as Facebook, it isn't critical to use Pinterest in order to stay connected, but from my experience I have found that it is an easy way to virtually keep my interests and projects organized.