By Jade Mardirosian
Staff writer
With a long to-do list of school assignments and projects, you might be quick to assume how I spent my weekend. Tirelessly checking off these assorted tasks, right?
Wrong, that would have been a little too productive for my liking. Instead, I spent what most would determine as entirely too much time crafting my new online obsession: Pinterest.
What-terest? Pinterest- a fairly new social website that allows users to create and share images that can be categorized by boards, like virtual bulletin boards of all your favorite people, places and things.
Started in 2010, Pinterest has recently gained quite a larger following and was named to Time magazine’s list of “The 50 Best Websites of 2011.”
Interested in joining what will presumably become your new procrastination tool and fixation (bye-bye, Facebook)? All you have to do is request an invite on the website and wait for an email that will allow you to sign up, create a username and begin pinning away.
Oh, and don’t forget to download the Pinterest application for your iPhone for pinning on the go (or in class).
I’m currently working four different inspiration boards: one with pictures of gorgeous places around the world I have either visited or am dying to visit, another with pictures of clothing and accessories I am crushing on, another with only pictures of leopard print (ie: shoes, shirts, house accessories) and the last one has pictures of houses and interiors I find inspiring.
Where do I find pictures for my Pinterest? Everywhere, from different places on the Internet to pictures I snap in real life. Some of my favorite blogs and sites to find pictures are those like thecoveteur.com, which boasts great pictures of interiors and apparel and sneak peeks inside the homes of some of fashion’s most influential people.
I also like to torture myself by surfing sothebysrealty.com to see international vacation homes that I can only fantasize owning.
You wouldn’t believe the dream dwellings some people are selling.
Pinterest also allows you to follow fellow pinners and their boards. You can find friends from Facebook or Twitter by syncing your Pinterest with those accounts.
Pinterest also suggests people you might be interested in following, many with an amazing collection of boards in the high double digits and followers in the tens of thousands.
I have found many things worth “repinning” just by browsing the Pinterest home screen, which includes recent pins by people you follow, which is better than the now old and outdated “like” button on Facebook.
I am newly obsessed with Pinterest and I think I will stay interested since the type and number of inspiration boards you can create is virtually limitless.
Pinterest is a great way to take a break from your obligations, all those assignments, meetings and projects, and find inspiration for all the facets of your life through pictures.
I will definitely make time for my Pinterest (sorry, Twitter) and hopefully keep pinning and repinning tons and tons of pictures.
You can follow me at pinterest.com/jadeisabella.
Jade Mardirosian is a senior journalism news-editorial major from Houston and is a staff writer for the Lariat.