Thursday, February 9, 2012

My Pinterest Rant


There seems to be a new phenomenon popping up around Pinterest. The Pinterest Troll.  These shiny, happy people like to make ugly, negative comments on people's pins. A couple of weeks ago someone pinned these adorable stacking blocks with hand-painted animals on them and someone commented "You guys pin the stupidest things." Lovely.

It appears that these people don't understand the point of Pinterest. Pinterest is a place where a person curates things that inspire them. It's personal. I don't pin for you, I pin for me. It's like a giant file of magazine clippings where I keep all kinds of things I like: color palettes, recipes to try, projects that look good, rooms that are beautiful, etc... It's stuff I like, nothing more.

Fortunately, Pinterest is largely used by nice, creative people, and trolls who make troll-ish comments are soundly denounced by other pinners. There really isn't any anonymity on Pinterest. If someone comments, everyone can see their boards and their information. It makes it harder to lob an incendiary comment and disappear, which is something that is all to common on blogs. We can see the trolls and avoid them. If someone is mean-spirited then they have to own it.

The woman who made the ugly comment above was thoroughly reprimanded by a great many pinners. That particular comment was even tweeted by a very popular blogger as an example of what not to do on Pinterest. This is a good thing and I hope it continues. I'm happy that there's a measure of accountability for bad behavior.

Hopefully trolls will remain relatively rare on Pinterest. It would be a shame to have to contend with nasty people in, what is supposed to be, a peaceful place. I have to admit, I find it disturbing that it's taking place at all, it's like someone is walking into a person's daydreams and criticizing them. It's a little surreal, in a bad way.

I love Pinterest, I hope you enjoy it too and I hope that you're pins remain troll-free!

Until tomorrow,
H

Oh, if you'd like an invite, comment and I'll send you one. Just be prepared, it's slightly addictive :-)

5 comments:

  1. Here here! My pinterest rant would be about their search engine. Serious issues there. Frequent 502 messages and when I search for something like "moon" I get 20 responses. Seriously? There are only 20 pictures labeled 'moon' on pinterest? Highly doubtful. Thank you and good night.

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  2. Hi - I haven't come across that yet - but I guess the more I pic the more it will happen huh?

    I'm a BYW student - found your blog via that Facebook Group. I will follow your blog - please follow mine!

    By the way I am doing a great Giveaway this week - so check it out. It's a Handpainted Paint Color Fan Deck of great, designer colors.

    Linda

    http://www.studioofdecorativearts.blogspot.com

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  3. i had no idea! that's awful. i've not become addicted yet, but only b/c i don't have the time. life has enough difficulties, we don't need to bring them to each other.
    joy to you!

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  4. Yes! I love pinterest. I don't know why some people feel the need to post negative remarks...
    Still love the shiny happy images i pin...
    Love to you xxx

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  5. I love Pinterest and I've been on it for a while now. These ugly comments are a recent thing, I've seen several in the past couple of weeks. It's awful. Nastiness just shouldn't be tolerated.

    Joy to you too Noreen! & Love to you too Leah, I've been thinking about you and wondering how you're doing...

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Welcome! I'd love to hear from you so please comment, it would make my day!

Note: Home Again Jog is a troll-free zone, nasty comments won't be published, period.