The internet has this funny way of just sucking a lot of time out of my day. I check my email, facebook, and sometimes twitter in the morning, then at lunchtime, and in between design projects I’m working on in the afternoon during the kids’ nap time. The last few years, Facebook has been my biggest time-suck.

A few days ago, however, I joined Pinterest. Oh, Pinterest. Sigh. It was love at first sight.

Screen shot of my Pinterest page. I only have five pinboards... so far.

Facebook statuses (stati?) reading, “TGIF” and “Go Cards/Bears/Packers/[insert random professional sports team here]!” and “FML! My life is terrible!” just aren’t looking all that interesting anymore.

So, what is Pinterest?

For those who haven’t heard of Pinterest, the website (pinterest.com) describes it like this.

Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard. Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

Basically, you can share images you find on the internet with your friends whom you follow much like twitter, except you see their pins (images they have saved) instead of tweets.

Pros

It sounds lame at first, but it is a whole new way of browsing the internet. I can quickly and easily find anything I’m interested in just by looking at friends’ pinboards and clicking on the “pins” – images that lead back to the original website from which they were posted.

Pinterest is a great way to network. If I post photos on here that people enjoy, then they can be pinned and re-pinned so that the image (and therefore my website) could be enjoyed by a much larger audience. You shouldn’t join Pinterest just to promote your website, but it has potential to spread the good stuff on the internet much more quickly.

Another great thing about Pinterest is their policy on nudity and explicit images – they just aren’t allowed.

If you are on Pinterest, feel free to “pin” any photos I put on here, follow me, or whatever.

Cons

I do like Pinterest, but it does have some downfalls. It seems to be more appealing to women. My honey thinks it just sounds stupid.

Secondly, it is a major time-suck. You can waste many hours going through pictures and their sources, which really doesn’t accomplish much most of the time.

Third, it’s like any other social networking website – not evil in and of itself, but it has the potential to become sort of an idol for people. If you concentrate all of your thinking on one thing, that makes it your idol. Materialism is a really big part of our society, and this website definitely has the potential to make me more materialistic if I let it. I could be constantly browsing “ideas” for home decor, but I have to remember that my house is just fine too. I don’t need any things to make my life happy or fulfilled.

Conclusion

It’s worth a shot. If you are a visual person who likes to share what you enjoy on the internet, make a request to join at Pinterest.com.

Please note: This is not an advertisement for Pinterest, just an honest review of a website I enjoy.