As I prepared for another day of repeatedly scrolling through and refreshing feeds filled with a constant supply of new information, the Achilles heel of social networking revealed itself. In an information overloaded world, I desired a social network that would fuel my creative and fashion inquisitive side. Fortunately in 2010 Pinterest was launched; a photo sharing media platform.
Like most new trends, their novelty soon fades away and cracks begin to form. However, there is something quite refreshing about Pinterest in comparison to its social networking counterparts. Instead of focusing on the aspect of following and keeping in touch with loosely connected friends and the world of celebrities, Pinterest allows you to connect to individuals on a worldwide scale with those who you share common interests with or whose creative flairs you admire and take inspiration from. By creating boards entitled “my style” and “hair and beauty” I have used Pinterest to create collections of my own personal fashion favourites, and styles l have a high regard for. However, with an expanding number of categories to search in, from architecture to health and fitness, Pinterest is highly versatile and is accommodating to a wide variety of interests. Additionally, with the “pin it” button, Pinterest gives you the flexibility to collate images from all over the internet allowing you to share these with the rest of your Pinterest community.
Due to Pinterest’s high visual nature, this social network site is especially revolutionary for the fashion industry, as both new and established designers such as Michael Kors and Nina Garcia are able to share their innovative collections and inspirations on an interactive worldwide platform, which are guaranteed to be “re-pinned” by millions. Whilst primarily American based, Pinterest has expanded and flourished which has permitted fashions that are trending in different countries to transgress on a global scale with ease. Whether this will create more individuality or style clones is up to personal debate, however I for one am excited to see the development of this social network as it continues to grow.
Therefore, thanks to the creators, Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra and Evan Sharp, I am now able to use a social network site that enhances my fashion knowledge and which broadens my style horizon. Pinterest has provided me with a creatively cathartic way to continue my exploration into the ever changing and individually variant nature of the fashion industry and has given myself, and millions of users the opportunity to voice their own styles on an international level.
Hattie Lee
all images taken from interest