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Pinterest’s DIY has positive impacts on arts and economics

By carolinianweb on April 13, 2016 • ( 0 )

Jurgen Appelo/ flickr

Kashif Stone
Staff Writer

The 21st century birthed a world revolving around technology, internet dependency and social media. Social media has altered many aspects of human life such as the way we communicate, make judgments and even think on a daily basis. Platforms such as Facebook, and the less frequently used MySpace, allows users to connect with old friends, classmates, family members or what have you, to stay in touch and keep up with each other’s lives. The well-known app Instagram allows users to capture great moments through photos or 60-second videos, and share it amongst their followers in what is considered a photo diary, known as “the timeline.” However, the ultimate “Do It Yourself” (DIY) app was Pinterest — a free website that requires registration. Users can save, sort, upload and manage images, known as “pins,” through collections known as “pinboards.”

Launched in March 2010, Pinterest has risen to become one of the top social media platforms available. When the site was made available globally, it became more popular. The most popular categories, as of March 2012, were home, arts and crafts, style/fashion and food. These top categories remain popular even today largely in part to the DIY pinboards found within each. Currently there are over 4 billion DIY pins hosted on the site; DIY is the top search on the platform. Users rely on Pinterest’s DIY hacks for beauty, hair and even fitness inspirations. It is also a prom season treasure trove, the mecca for crafting and the ultimate all-in-one party planning destination.

To make things easier for DIY users, Pinterest recently announced the launch of How-To pins, allowing content creators to give step-by-step instructions within their pins. This new feature is available to users in the U.S., France, the U.K. and Germany on Android devices and the Web. Pinterest also plans to extend the feature to iOS users in the future. The purpose of the How-To pin is to help with the problem of successfully tackling a DIY life hack that may look easy on Pinterest but harder in reality, as well as bridge the information gap.

Pinterest DIY platform has both artistic and economic benefits. For businesses involved in fashion, art, home décor’, photography, family, travel, food and fitness, it is a no-brainer that Pinterest will have economic benefits on their brand. It’s just a matter of how they set up their boards and the description they use to define their pins to capitalize on these categories. With DIY hacks being the most searched category on Pinterest, businesses that include DIY pins benefit more than those who don’t by increasing traffic not only to their Pinterest boards but to their personal or company websites as well.

Artistically, the Pinterest DIY platform has renovated creativity and even inspired a joint project between two Kentucky businesses to help “Do-it-yourselfers” achieve their projects. In October 2015, John Green of the Hutchinson News reported a handful of volunteers reorganized a massive heap of donated building materials accumulated over years in the Interfaith Housing Services’ Avenue A Warehouse in Hutchinson, Kentucky. The project, entitled “Builders Bargain,” is a collaborative joint venture between Interfaith Housing and The Et Cetera Shop, offering excess home improvement materials for sale direct to the public, with proceeds from the store supporting the work of both organizations.

Jane Wagler, manager of The Et Cetera Shop, said “The project is for do-it-yourselfers on Pinterest where they’ll find stuff for cheaper cost and in turn, turn it back into something useful and help the community while doing so.” Pinterest DIY-ers can find materials such as doors, windows, power tools, appliances, wall and floor coverings, plumbing materials, countertops, ceramic tile, many hanging lamps and ceiling fans. Although the project garnered Pinterest home improvement DIY-ers, it still shows how the DIY platform has positive benefits on creativity.

Recently, Pinterest released the results of an IPSOS Survey of online adults aged 18 to 64. According to the survey, 75% of people polled said Pinterest was the best app for finding new interest; 73% said it was best for pursuing new hobbies and 67% liked Pinterest best for expressing creativity. Although some may disagree with the use of Pinterest as a good platform for DIY projects, one cannot deny that Pinterest’s introduction to DIY pins has revolutionized the landscape of “do-it-yourself” projects artistically and economically.