I recently expressed my confusion concerning the popularity of Pinterest. It seems as though everyone who blogs, tweets, or uses any other form of social media has used it, and they love it. Finally, with a couple minutes to spare before work the other day, I checked out. I was overwhelmed by the home page that opened up. What was I supposed to do with that mess of images??
The next day, a co-worker (and facebook friend) posted something to facebook about something she pinned or something she and her daughter made after finding it on Pinterest. I commented that I liked the heart-shaped crayons they made, but didn't understand the appeal of Pinterest. Yesterday she came up to me and said, 'You don't use Pinterest!? I'd have thought it was right up your alley!' After a short conversation she suggested I give it another go, and recommended I try the 'DIY & Crafts' tab.
This morning, I did. At this point I had it in my head that I would fall in love with it, and spend all day looking and pinning. After about 10 minutes of sensory overload and a still confused voice in my head questioning the purpose of Pinterest, I hopped over to the 'About' page.
And there I got my answer!
The question: why am I not in love with this thing that everyone around me is so into, and worse yet, something that my friends think is 'right up my alley'!? What am I missing?It hit me like a ton of bricks...I am not that person who scours the internet looking for images and 'things'. Oh, how I would love to be, but I am not. Obviously, as you can see by my blog, I don't tend to be image heavy. I wish that I was, but if it's time or effort holding me back, I don't know... they just don't make it into my internet world.
It kind of made me sad, too. I took a correspondence course in photography the year after getting booted out of university. I was 19 and didn't know what else to do. (And, it was all through the mail!! The 'ooh, look what else we offer' draw was that you could use your PHONE -land line, of course, no cells back then!- to call in your test answers or speak with a professor!)
I wasn't great by the end...my 'final' was a 3-part hands-on photo session of sorts where you mailed in your photos for critique. I still have my 'wildlife' entry: a picture of my cat sitting in a field of tall grass and little purple flowers. As the years went on, I experimented with my camera and took some pretty cool artsy photos. I grew a lot, and took, what I believe to be some really great photos.
But, alas, I am not a digital girl. Since giving up my film camera efforts, I have fallen out of love with photography. Taking photos...not viewing.
Who cares? Well, probably no one, but I think it is part of the reason I tend not to post pics...they are not good examples of my skills. Or, the skills I once had, anyway.
So, back to Pinterest. To me, it's just a jumbled mess of too much stuff to sort through, for a person with no patience for that sort of thing. If I'm gonna spend hours sorting through photographs, I want to touch them...have them in my hands. I'm old fashioned. I want to break out of this moldy oldy rut, but I think it may be too late for that.
But, I also think I'm okay with it.
I'm certainly not saying that people who love Pinterest are just sitting around all day looking at pictures! I know all too well about finding a site you love and spending hours, without even realizing, just lost in it all. But, for me, Pinterest isn't that site. For now, I'm sure someone, some other day, will convince me to try again. Or, maybe some day I will simply have more time to sort through it all?!
Moving on...
My giveaway is turning out to be a bust, but that's okay. I have come to realize that I don't have the time to promote and 'virtually' socialize on a scale that will really make a difference in my online presence. Again, that's okay, it's just how it is. Until I have more time, I will just continue to putter along as best I can.But it's still gonna happen...the giveaway, I mean. Here's a link to the original post, and I amended the time frame so that you may enter up through Thursday; and, the winner will be announced in a post Friday.
Here's a quick recap of rules, if you don't want to go back in time to read them:
1. Check out my Facebook Fan Page
and ‘Like’ me. You can also access it by clicking the 'MyDearest' box at the top right side of this page. Let me know in your comment here.2. Follow my blog, and let me know in a comment here.
3. Do you have friends who may be interested in my shop? why not blog about this giveaway, and add a link (and let me know in a comment here)!
4. Do you tweet? ‘Follow’ me. Tweet me something…it’ll be fun!
OH, and the prize, again, will be a quilled snowflake and a cotton bag with one of my original designs (ironed on). It's a play on this crazy late summer-like weather we are having this winter! It's February 1st and I can go outside without a coat!! In New England!!
Now, all of this is to (gulp!) promote my Etsy shop that I've recently re-opened with a new line of paper jewelry,and some new hardcover journals. So, if you are so inclined, you may also want to go there, too.
Perhaps my next post will just be pictures!?
