Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Is Pinterest Killing Creativity?

This was the topic in a segment on my favorite local lifestyle show today. Here is the video if you want to watch it:



(Here is a link to the video in case the the embedded version doesn't work.)

The TV show also took comments on their Facebook page. I didn't read all of the comments but it seemed that the majority of people commented that "no" they didn't think Pinterest killed creativity. A common thread in these comments was that these women felt that they weren't creative and needed Pinterest to give them help and ideas. I just don't agree that there is anyone out there who isn't creative. We may all be creative in different ways, but creative nonetheless:

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.

"Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty." (Read more here.)

I wonder if Pinterest is becoming an excuse for people not to create. They don't need to think of their own ideas because it's so easy just to jump on Pinterest and find a good one. I know I have done that.



But at the same time, Pinterest can teach skills that are necessary for creating. And using an idea as a jumping off point and making it your own IS creative.

Pinterest has helped me be much more creative with my closet. I love looking for outfits with similar colors or pieces that I have in my closet and using them as a jumping off point. Sometimes I will have a pinned outfit in the back of my head when I get dressed. It comes out looking nothing like the photo, but was inspiration nonetheless.

For crafts and other DIY projects, I have found both skills and inspiration, but I am a little more likely to straight up copy the project here. But not always. I found the instructions for the hex nut bracelet on Pinterest and followed them pretty much exactly, but was creative in the way that I made the clasp.




The main problem I find with Pinterest (for me) is the amount of wasted time. I don't spend hours and hours and I follow very few people, but if I used all the time I spent looking at Pinterest (and blogs for that matter) in my craft room/kitchen/closet I would have created so much more and probably felt much more accomplished. As the above artwork suggests, it gives me a false sense of creativity.



Is Pinterest like a magazine in that it makes us feel bad about ourselves, our clothes, our homes, our talents?

CONCLUSION: I certainly won't be stopping my use of Pinterest anytime soon! I just make sure that I limit my time on the site and don't let it limit my creativity! (See my boards here!)

What do you think? I would love to hear your opinion! Leave a comment below!