By Jenna Milukas
Immediately after posting an Instagram picture, I take one of two routes. I either throw my phone across the room and refuse to look at it again for at least a half hour, or I am glued to it, constantly refreshing my notifications. As someone who loves to post on social media, I would be lying if I said that a low amount of likes or comments doesn’t affect my confidence levels. It makes me rethink posts that I really enjoyed, and wonder if my vision and vibe are something that people aren’t connecting with. Thank goodness for Instagram’s new “Hide Like Count” feature (Am I right?).
This has always been the case with posting on social media. A majority of people have been raised in a society that bases a lot of their self-worth on how others see us online. VSCO was a photo sharing app that gained massive amounts of popularity when I was in middle school and high school (feeling old now, that was the 2010’s). It was one of the first big platforms to allow people to post, follow, like, and share, but no one could see the numbers; not even the creator themselves. VSCO has become a dumping ground for all of my favorite posts that I don’t feel would get the right attention on a platform like Instagram. However, activity on VSCO has been dying down. Part of this is due to the explosion of the platform Pinterest.
Pinterest has always been around. Needed a good DIY craft back in 2015? Pinterest was the place to go. As a form of media that centers around offering their users a feed crafted to their liking based off of their usage, how could you not love it? It’s literally designed to show you pictures that you will like. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Pinterest was underground, but it definitely was not associated with the “cool girl aesthetic” until very recently. Once TikTok began gaining popularity in 2020, people were searching for the next cool thing to share content about. An obvious topic is usually fashion and lifestyle, and TikTok creators found that Pinterest can offer both. Influencers were constantly pushing the “Pinterest girl aesthetic”, which basically emphasized these aesthetically pleasing photos of travel, the beach, and light color palettes of fashion. To me, a Pinterest girl aesthetic was emphasizing summer on the coast, with pastel dresses but also carefree outfits, and living life to its fullest.
Pinterest is a great form of media for people of all ages. It allows people to sell products, but doesn’t push ads nearly as much as platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat do. It’s a place to grow your brand by posting things that you like because, due to the algorithm, people that share those interests are more likely to find your posts. It has taken away a lot of the stress of worrying over likes, shares, and comments. Those that focus on Pinterest for revenue might track those things with more intensity, but the average user goes on Pinterest to form collections of photos that they love. It has been a very healing app with how much connection there is, but with how little of it is focused on social standing. Pinterest is consistent in being an app dedicated to its users, and I am totally here for it!