I believe in Pinterest. 

It was introduced to me mid-seventh grade, during my

Drama minimester. We were researching a costume design project, and I made an account to get inspiration. At first, I just used it for the project, but then Luc showed me a picture of a cute animal, and I started to explore further. Then, I found a pin about a book series that I really liked at the time. I had never seen or heard anyone else mention these books before, and it was amazing to see this whole community of people who liked it too.

That was when my love of Pinterest started. Nowadays, I have Pinterest boards about many different things, and I go on there all the time to explore and add to them.

Scrolling through Pinterest is a really lovely feeling. I can almost see people behind their screens, all over the world, in coffee shops, in their rooms, on the bus, all sharing their love for things. Specific and broad, niche and popular, there’s a community for basically everyone. There are a lot of things on Pinterest, pretty much anything you can think of; there’s a community behind that. And when you find your community, with people you relate to and understand, it’s amazing. It’s like you’re connected to a huge network of people just like you. It’s so positive and simple. There isn’t even a like culture.

Unlike other, more popular apps like Instagram or TikTok, I’ve never seen a post with more than a few thousand likes, and they don’t even track views. This leads to a super positive and calm mindset when posting, because you don’t really think about how much attention your post is going to get. You just put something you love out into the world, to contribute and to let other people enjoy.

We all have the human inclination to make collections and bundles of the things we love, and Pinterest is perfect for that. It’s like,

“Look, it's a big list of a bunch of my favorite things, right here!” And there’s always a lot more people and things to find and appreciate. I, myself, feel so content every time I save a pin. It’s a feeling of satisfaction and completion, to add to my growing stash of things that make me happy. Outside, everything is so complicated and negative, a lot of the time, and it’s amazing to experience the simplicity of only perceiving what you enjoy.

Social media is an incredible and dangerous tool. It has the potential for huge good or bad, but I’ve found that social media is what you make it. You and I have the power to shape it however we like, simply by choosing what we watch and absorb, and what we don’t. And it is so, so amazing when you use it right. And I believe that the right way to use it is for connection. Connecting with others through shared experiences and interests is so important and underrated. The pure joy of finding a person or a group of people like you is amazing. And I think social media, with its outreach across the world, is the best tool for this. Connection, especially through similarity and understanding, is really, really special and valuable.

This I believe.