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With the influx of studies highlighting the negative effects of social media for mental health, many individuals have taken the initiative to reduce their own social media time, or completely cut it out of their life. However, after a couple days of unplugging, the urge to pick up your phone is hard to resist. Some social media sites are less damaging than others, and can prove to be healthy alternatives to replace other negative apps such as Instagram and TikTok (Lacruz et al., 2018). Can Pinterest be one of these alternatives?
Pinterest is known to be one of the more productive social media outlets that can help stimulate creativity (Blasco et al., 2017). One of the biggest benefits of Pinterest is its ability to inspire and motivate individuals through its content. Pinterest is home to a variety of inspirational messages, such as quotes and images, and can help boost overall mood. It provides a way for users to express themselves through a creative outlet, such as uploading art onto the site. It provides ideas for people to express their creativity through, like DIY projects, recipes, and more.
Spending time on Pinterest can also create a sense of belonging and community. Visuals can have a strong impact on our behaviour and mental health, and Pinterest allows users to create boards with pins that connect with them. Calming landscapes, animals, and aesthetic photos are a whole portion of the content of Pinterest that can resonate with entire groups of our population.
Pinterest also provides community support related to mental health. A lot of Pinterest communities exist around supporting mental health, where individuals can share their experiences and connect with others who relate. It helps people find coping strategies for issues and can help validate their own perspectives.
Goal setting and planning is one of the biggest ways to improve mental health, something that Pinterest has a plethora of. The format of Pinterest is an ideal way to set goals and plan for the future, which can provide a sense of direction and purpose.
However, like all social media platforms, Pinterest is not perfect. Like many others, I have experienced excessive time-consumption and procrastination with my time utilizing Pinterest. Browsing Pinterest can be highly addictive. This can lead to excessive technology usage and can cause users to procrastinate by neglecting other responsibilities in favour of extra scrolling time. Pinterest can also facilitate a pressure of conformity, where many users are exposed to trends and popular aesthetics, as well as high standards of beauty and fashion (Tiggemann et al., 2014). While this repercussion does exist in higher prevalence in other social media platforms, Pinterest still contains idealistic images which can be stressful and reduce individuality (Fardouly et al., 2014).
A more positive internet is possible with Pinterest, but it’s important to remember that Pinterest is still social media and can contain harmful and triggering content. A better way to improve mental health from reduced social media use, is to replace Pinterest with offline activities and self care practices. All social media use has the potential to be harmful, and it is important to use social media in moderation. For those who aspire to disconnect from social media, however, Pinterest can be a baby step in facilitating a social-media free future.
References:
Gil-Lacruz, M., & Gil-Lacruz, A. I. (2018). Online communication, creativity, and well-being in adolescence: A study in social media. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 28. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00028
Lozano-Blasco, R., Cortell-Tormo, J. M., & Fuentes-Miguel, J. (2017). A systematic review of the use of Pinterest in educational contexts. Comunicar: Media Education Research Journal, 25(53), 89-98. https://doi.org/10.3916/C53-2017-09
Tiggemann, M., & Slater, A. (2014). NetGirls: The Internet, Facebook, and body image concern in adolescent girls. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 47(6), 630-643. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22288
Fardouly, J., Diedrichs, P. C., Vartanian, L. R., & Halliwell, E. (2015). Social comparisons on social media: The impact of Facebook on young women’s body image concerns and mood. Body Image, 13, 38-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.12.002
Note: The Free Your Mind Mental Health Society is an independent youth-led organization. The contents of this blog are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. In the event of a medical emergency, please call your doctor or 911 or other local emergency numbers immediately.