In the last few days, I've read several articles about Moms who say that Pinterest makes them feel "inadequate." Some of the posts got pretty serious. The common denominator in all the articles and posts that I read were Moms saying that when they go on Pinterest and see all the crafty things other people are doing they feel bad about themselves when they can't or don't want to do the same.
Now don't get me wrong, there are times when I am surfing Pinterest and I think "yeah right, who's got time to do that, I can barely get myself showered everyday!" There are certainly days when this e-card sums it up perfectly. But a majority of the time, I see something I like, pin it and let it sit for weeks until I have time to tackle it or until I need to tackle it.
Personally I find Pinterest very helpful. I find ideas on there that lead to other ideas and turn into great things that solve a problem I am having or fill a need. I pin a lot of stuff knowing that I may never do it but the idea is there if I ever have a need for it, or if I just feel like giving it a try. A perfect example of this is growth chart ruler. I saw it, pinned it and it sat on my board for weeks. One day I decided I was going to give it try. I surveyed my house thinking about where to put it and decided on a wall in my kitchen I just hadn't found the right thing for. Pin accomplished and wall decorated, sounds like a win-win to me!
Well, these Moms don't feel that way. It seemed to me that they felt pressured to do as many of their pins as possible. They also sounded like they were trying to keep up with what others were doing and if they couldn't or didn't want to, they deemed themselves as failures. One mentioned that she felt bad when her cupcakes didn't look as nice as the ones she seen on Pinterest.
So I'm sitting there reading these articles and thinking to myself, what is going on here? Why are these women allowing a social media site to make them feel so badly about what type of parent they are? Who cares what your stupid cupcakes look like? At least you made an effort to make them, you could have done what I've done countless times and walked into the grocery store, bought cupcakes and called it a day!
I read several articles/posts, but here are a few with opposing viewpoints that stuck out:
So tell me Pin or Pass readers, does Pinterest make you feel bad? Does it give you anxiety about all the pins you want to do but can't find time for? Do you feel bad when your pins come out looking crappy? Or do you take Pinterest for it is and do what you can and want with it? Where do you fall in the Pin or Pass on Pinterest debate?
