Student interest in Pinterest on the rise

If you like to browse through pictures and not deal with constant status updates, the new social networking site, Pinterest, may be for you.

Pinterest users “pin” pictures found on different websites, or upload their own, to create a virtual bulletin board. The site was created in 2010 but saw a 55 percent increase in users last month, according to comScore’s ranking.

“When I get on it, I get hooked,” junior Elise Henkemeyer, who has used the site for more than a year, said. “Even when you are searching on a normal site and you find something that you like, you just click this little pin tab in your bookmarks and then it will pin it to your boards.”

Users can create several boards on their account with different themes. Popular themes include food recipes, wedding ideas, book suggestions and do-it-yourself craft projects.

Similar to social media sites Facebook and Twitter, users can “like” a picture by pinning it to their board and can follow accounts that interest them.

Junior Courtney Nelson likes using Pinterest because it is easy to use and has a simple layout.

“I’ve always been someone who is always interested in like cute pictures and cute quotes,” Nelson said. “It’s so organized, and you can find anything you want. It makes it so easy.”

Sociology professor Tanya Gladney said that social media websites allow students to stay connected in society and the addiction many seem to have to these sites may not be so bad.

“We’re wired to interact with people, to communicate in some aspect,” Gladney said. “I think part of the addiction shows how we like to be connected in some kind of way in society.”

Even though the site has seen an increase in users, junior Britni Tokheim said that Pinterest will never be as addicting as other social networking sites.

“I don’t think it would ever have any chance of cancelling out Facebook or anything like that because that’s the social media where you have to communicate,” Tokheim said.

Tokhiem said that she does not have the urge to constantly check her Pinterest but rather uses it as a procrastination tool.

For those who still do not have a Pinterest, the only way to get an account is to request an invite by signing up on the site or being invited by another user.

Kristopher Jobe can be reached at jobe1276@stthomas.edu