Is Pinterest the New Obsession?

By Rachael Wabel

With virtual pinboards and limitless craft and home ideas, Pinterest is spreading across the nation. For some it is a place to find fun and easy craft ideas. For others it’s a great way to waste time.

The site boosts boards where users can “pin” items including crafts, pictures and sayings into different boards for the sake of organization. Some have boards specifically for home items, while others use the site to find cute and funny pictures. The abounding amount of ideas and projects has even made the site a favorite of brides-to-be.

“I look through other people’s boards and see so many ideas for my wedding,” Utah State University freshman Karli Adams said. “I can’t wait to get married so I can use them.”

Most joining Pinterest have done so after receiving invites or recommendations from friends and family. 

Markie Meredith, a senior at Syracuse High, joined Pinterest after seeing pillows her older sister had made from the site.

“She started making pillows and telling me about these different ideas and I asked her where she was finding all this stuff and she showed me Pinterest,” Meredith said.

Meredith and her sister turned the things found on the site into a bonding night, she said. They spend every Thursday night making things found on Pinterest, including scarves and a magnetic make-up board.

The crafts on the site are focused on being simple and things that can be made with materials that may already be at home. While most of the crafts are meant to be easy, not all turn out like they are supposed to.

“I tried to make a ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ figure. Epic Fail,” Chelsea Grimes said of a failed project found on the site. “I couldn’t really get the separate pieces to stick together. Then when I finally did, I tried baking it like the paper the clay came with said to, but it just melted.”

Although Pinterest boosts many good ideas, some see it as a waste of time.

“It’s a bunch of ridiculous housewives surfing the internet with nothing else to do,” USU student Rylie Gordon said. “I think it’s stupid.”

Like many other networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, some feel Pinterest is an addiction.

“It’s addicting. You get on and you just can’t stop,” Adams said.

Sometimes the urge to spend a few more minutes searching the site can delay class.

"One of my professors admitted that we're starting class late because she wants to spend more time on Pinterest," University of Utah student Megan McFarland tweeted. "Haha."