Pinterest is an insanely popular social media platform that hit the Internet in 2010. Founded by Ben Silbermann, Pinterest allows people to make ‘boards’ and pin photos to them. These photos can be of anything from clothes to puppies.
Many people use Pinterest as a way to craft ideas, or outfit ensembles. Pinterest is wildly famous for its crazy-good recipes, and its catalogue-like home décor suggestions. All in all, Pinterest is a way to create the virtual life you’ve always dreamed of.
Pin exercise tips to your ‘Fitness’ board, and suddenly it’s like you have the perfect body. Pin pictures of rooms to your ‘Home’ board, and its almost as if your living in the room of your dreams. Browsing through your ‘Style’ board makes it seem as if the clothes in that virtual closet of yours, may suddenly come to life. News flash: none of these things are real, and no matter how many wedding venues you pin to your ‘Forever and Ever’ board, your wedding is still a figment of your imagination until you actually find a boyfriend (fingers crossed).
That’s the problem with Pinterest. It’s a virtual perfection that is impossible to achieve. Sure you can try to make those yummy brownies with caramel drizzle, but it will never look exactly like the picture. It would be nice to be able to afford those $200 jeans, but does your first paycheck of the month even cover your rent? The unrealistic standards Pinterest sets for young adult users, who are mostly sensitive girls, can create mass disappointment when the reality hits. The need to look perfect, and be perfect is something many girls struggle with, and Pinterest is a visual reminder that perfection is truly unreachable. No one can be perfect, and that is why a maintaining positive self-image is important.
Pinterest gives great ideas (that’s how to use a hanger as a belt rack), and it can give fashion inspiration to anyone (yes, even your awkward older sister), but it’s important to remember not to take the Pinterest world too seriously. Nothing, and no one can reach perfection. Use Pinterest for inspiration, not as a life-long rulebook.
Start pinning, but remember you’re perfect just the way you are.
