Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on perspective, I don't really like Pinterest. Clearly I had a vision in my head of what it would it be like, and when it failed to live up to that vision... I guess when you have a heap of things demanding your attention, it is easier to dismiss the ones that don't quite work for you. And Pinterest doesn't do it for me.
Part of the problem is the actual physical arrangement of photos. I'm a huge fan of inspiration boards - my current work alcove is plastered with sentimental, inspirational, pretty things to motivate me.
I also have a smaller cork board with wardrobe inspiration pictures.
So I guess I wanted Pinterest to be like that. A cork board on the internet.
But it isn't. The photos are all discreet and separated. Looking at my Pinterest 'wardrobe planning' board doesn't inspire me. It is a useful place to store images and links - but I have a browser bookmark folder for that, and I don't have to worry about copyright when I bookmark a Burda Style pattern. I can't even work out a way to reorganise the photos in a board.
But I think I could get over that, realise that Pinterest isn't meant to provide the same facility as a real life cork board, and use it the way Tanith does, as a place to store things to try and go back to...
but I also find Pinterest demotivating.
Seeing the abundance of ideas and craft projects and cute things people pin doesn't inspire me. I look at all the pretty items and neat craft patterns and funky short-cuts and realise that there are a huge number of people in the world making largely decorative stuff. Should I be adding to their number?
It makes me question whether the world needs ANY MORE THINGS AT ALL.
While I can always work up enthusiasm for working on specific gifts, for a day after looking at Pinterest, I question our overall goal of ultimately selling our work.
So if I want to craft seriously, I need to stay away from Pinterest. I've removed all my pins and boards. I haven't deactivated my account yet, as I would still like to keep an eye on what my friends are pinning. And in a few months I'll give it another try. But right now, no Pinterest for me.
With regards to Pinterest itself, I can see that it isn't what you wanted it to be. You might find if you return to it without set expectations you enjoy it more, but maybe not!
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree about demotivation. I find it hard to have a generous spirit about the success of others. It's something I need to work on. Seeing awesome stuff mostly makes me jealous and brings feelings of inadequacy. Perhaps that's why many of the craft things I pin are simple small projects rather than AMAZING AWESOME THINGS.
I question it a bit too. But people will always want stuff and buy stuff even if they don't need stuff. What we need is for every object someone desires, for there to be a handmade or ethical option for them so they can make that good choice. Also if you mix among non-crafty people (which I don't know if you do very much) you realise they may be large in number, but still small in percentage. There are people who want to buy handmade/ethical/recycled and don't have the time/skills/energy/motivation to do so.
Just some thoughts.
Re: Demotivation
ReplyDeleteI really love Pinterest, but i mostly use it like a magpie; i collect beautiful images because i think they are beautiful, not because i intend to use them as inspiration. I have a "greeting card inspiration" board, but it's full of hand-crafted cards, which are really quite different from what i do at work. I also have a recipe board, which i find works really well for me (mostly because seeing a picture of a meal motivates me to try to cook it far more than reading the name of the dish does).
However, even without pinning anything much that i intend to use creatively, i find i regularly walk away from Pinterest with one thought in my head: I am not a designer. Not that i'm not capable, but... artistic professions are always portrayed as "callings", and Pinterest is full of people who love design and are deeply passionate about it, and i am just not. So i often go to Pinterest and see tons of people creating really gorgeous, inspired work on Behance and so on, and tons of people posting hand-lettered quotes that say things like "It's that feeling you get when you find that one perfect font you've been looking for for ages..." and i don't relate at all, and i feel lazy, and a bit like a fraud.
But i am particularly susceptible to impostor syndrome about being a designer, i think. It doesn't make me like Pinterest itself any less, because i still view my own interactions with the site as being akin to collecting butterflies, and i enjoy it in that regard. I do wish there were an option to make boards private, though.
Impostor syndrome is interesting, isn't it? I guess I do feel a bit that way except in two or three very specific crafts - crochet and embroidery. And I know I'm not really an artist or have much of a sense of design.
DeleteMaybe I do just need to shift my stance on it, and view it as a collection of pretty things that are nice to look at. But that makes it seem less useful!
Impostor syndrome. Yeah. Thinking about that idea makes me glad I got out of the PhD and engineering. I sure felt a lot of that there. And I do a bit in craft too. Some things that make me feel better - thinking about the first projects I attempted in a particular field of craft, and how much I've improved since then, and looking at the firsts of someone else I admire. The first comics in a now-awesome webcomic. The first blog posts by an awesome blogger. It's a journey. I'd like to put my first hat up here next to my computer and craft area.
DeleteAnd I disagree Rhiannon that you don't have much of a sense of design or aren't an artist. I think you have a great eye for shape and colour, and obviously have good 3D visualisation if you can do patternless crocheting to create a 3D item. Which is one thing I find a struggle.