Last night (I'm starting to wonder if all of my blog posts are going to begin that way...) I found myself searching Google for an electronic copy of a book by one of my favorite 20th century American philosophers and theologians, Alan W. Watts. Specifically, I was trying to find a Kindle version or at least a free library PDF version of his book, "Beyond Theology: The Art of Godsmanship." For those who don't know whom Alan W. Watts is, just click here and please, enjoy!
Anyways, I stumbled across a link that posited to be offering a digitally free licensed copy of "Beyond Theology," but what I actually found was a Pinterest page that simply had the book cover. I was confused, baffled, angry, and somewhat let down all within what seemed to be a matter of seconds. I wanted to read! I had no need for some website that could show me how to make delicious puppy shaped peanut butter pretzel cookies or watermelon infused mojitos from scratch.
But suddenly, after a few short breaths and click of my Chrome's back-page button, I realized the irony in the moment. I had to make a blog post (this post) about Pinterest for my E-Marketing class, and I also had to highlight why I did or did not prefer to use it. If one can gather from my unabashed and terse tirade not but just 2 sentences up, I think I perhaps indirectly gave away my position.
To be honest though, I have a very limited understanding of what Pinterest is; sure I know it is a social media site in which individuals can share, or "pin" images covering a virtually unlimited variety of interests, but I suppose I really don't know what it is because I'm not really interested in it. In fact, my rudimentary understanding largely stems from my cousin's girlfriend, Simi, visiting us in Pittsburgh and always making us desserts and or wonderfully tasteful mixed drinks, that when I ask where she found out how to make these amazingly delicious treats, I always here, "Pinterest." Or my sister, Jamie, she'll show me some cute craft idea for my nephews' and nieces' elementary school holiday parties, and once again, when I ask where did she come up with the idea, what do I hear but, "Pinterest."
Maybe that's why I don't have an interest in it. Not that I don't like cookies or drinks. I'd be absurd to say I don't like cookies or drinks! But I think it more or less has something to do with a gender stereotype I have developed since any users of Pinterest that I know tend to be women. Thankfully though, after once again utilizing the all-mighty search engine Google, I have come to find that my perception is statistically verified. According to an article from the Huffington Post, 72% of Pinterest users are women.
While this explains my perception of Pinterest, it doesn't fully explain my lack of use. As for that answer, while I'm well experienced in a myriad of social media platforms, such as Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, and StumbleUpon; I try to spend as much time as I can on other things I enjoy, such as music, art, books, and films. To me, these social media sites are a great means to attain those interests, but I think sometimes we end up focusing on the means themselves too much. I try to avoid this over indulgence of social media as much as I possibly can, and rather I prefer to focus on the content, or the ends themselves. But that's just me.
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