By Josephine Lee–

Go up to any girl on campus, ask her what Pinterest is and nine times out of ten, she’ll know what you’re talking about. Pinterest.com, which has grown exponentially in popularity in recent months, is a social networking website that allows users to “pin” interests, inspirations and images onto different bulletin boards, hence the name, Pinterest. Users can use the “Pin It” function to pin images that interest them onto Pinterest, or use images already in the Pinterest database that other users have pinned to put on their boards. Boards can range from planning their dream wedding and house, to finding motivational inspiration and great recipes. However, if used to its full capacity, Pinterest can become so much more.

What really makes Pinterest unique is the vast amount of material on the website. This site is not only innovative, but can also be cost-effective. Many of the items pinned in the database are repurposed from items that would otherwise end up in a landfill. “Upcycling” is a nice way to reduce waste when living in such a wasteful society. These relatively simple do-it-yourself projects help to foster that sense of pride received from completing a project that is often tossed aside in favor of purchasing commercial products.

How else is Pinterest useful? It is a way for people to share uncommon tips and ideas. Just run a search of “easy cleaning” and a sum of results comes up. Who knew that there were so many ways to clean a home without using products that are doused in harmful chemicals? Most of these pins come from people who have used these methods before, and the comments feature on every pinned item confirms how useful the idea is. Plus, Pinterest differs from other sites in that it combines a micro-blogging user interface with web browsing. Just click on someone’s pin to be redirected to the original website the pin was found.

To get the most out of Pinterest, you must understand first and foremost, that Pinterest is an organizational site. People tag the items for sharing and pin them onto bulletin boards. With no limits on the number of boards, users can be as specific as possible when naming boards and when pinning ideas onto their board. Users can search for specific categories posted by other users, almost like an online filing cabinet.

Pinterest has ignited a nationwide creativity spark. Instead of throwing away things automatically, people are reusing them to feed into their artistic obsessions. College students especially value a good bargain, and if an old T-shirt can be repurposed into a scarf that can be worn 25 different ways, then that means one less trip to the mall, one less dollar amount spent and a great feeling of satisfaction.

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Photo courtesy Pinterest