has pinterest jumped the shark?

since i joined pinterest back in may, it's grown to be a well-known tool of social media. in may, it was mostly just used and known within the blogging community ... but recently, more and more people are jumping on.

maybe it's just me. maybe i'm getting to be one of those people who can't deal with change on the internet. this is a definite possibility... but can i be super negative for a minute and just be honest? i don't like pinterest as much any more. when i first got on, the vast majority of pins were DIY, home decor, and design. recipes would pop up here and there. it reflected the interests of the corner of the blogosphere that many of us call home.

back in those early days (way back in may of 2011), you could opt in and out of the categories that would show up in your "everything" feed. so because i'm already married and not really interested in wedding colors or gowns, i could un-check the wedding box and still get a mix of other categories. and that was back when there were only like 8 categories. now there are like 35.and if i want to narrow the field, i can only narrow to one category. that's no fun.

then there are the weird trends that happen on pinterest, clogging up the feed ... like the "pin a half-naked famous person" trend. i mean, i thought that pinterest was supposed to be a virtual pin-board ... you know, like for aesthetic inspiration. now granted, the human body is incredibly lovely in and of itself, but that's not really why people were pinning the naked adam levine pin with the woman's hands covering his junk. [they're looking for a different kind  of inspiration. if-you-know-what-i-mean.]

or how about the "talk down to yourself about your body and call it fitness motivation trend"?? because as a 5 month pregnant woman, that's exactly what i want to pop up in my feed ... an image of a 21 yr old in only a bra and panties telling me how much i don't need carbs.

and then came what i like to call the "bucket list" trend. this one didn't bother me as much because initially, it made sense to me. it said things like "see the eiffle tower in person." and had a gorgeous photo of the tower behind it. that i get. but when they start saying stupid things (particularly things that are mundane or mainly out of our control) that's when i kinda arch my eyebrow a bit when they pop up in my feed.

[source.]

i mean, really?? like if the man you're in love with wants to propose on april 3rd, you're going to tell him he's got to wait until valentine's day?? [i warned you i was going to be super negative here.]

[source.]

seriously?? you had to pin this?? can't you just put it on your shopping list??

i know that a lot of my old-lady tendencies here are due to the fact that younger people are getting on pinterest and pinning things that i just don't understand, because, whoah, i'm suddenly an old married woman with a kid on the way, writing an angst-filled blog post on a saturday night when i wish i could be sleeping. [dear God, i sound pathetic. maybe if i bought a 96 color eyeshadow palette.... nah.]

and this is is why i never really got into tumblr. because i just couldn't understand why you would want social media in that form. [except, of course, for hilarious memes like handmade ryan gosling. that this old woman understands.]

beyond the annoyance of prom dresses and youthful naivete, there's also the pins that i categorize as offensive ... and sometimes needlessly vocal. submitted for your comment, here are a few that i grabbed to demonstrate...

[no source as i refuse to give this person clicks.]

and the caption read "did someone order chinese?" now, i'm not about online censorship, but i shouldn't have to see $h!+ like this in my feed. it's offensive, inappropriate, rude ... and on soooo many levels. to asians. to children. i could go on and on.

[no source as i refuse to give this person clicks.]

all i can think is ... wtf??? oh, i'm sorry, i forgot that you're a clinical psychologist with a specialty in eating disorders. and you spread awareness through .... pinterest??

[no source as i refuse to give this person clicks.]

everyone is entitled to their opinion and political stance in the US ... that's the beauty of free speech and the bill of rights. but a) seriously? pinterest is your forum for making this statement?? and b) i should be able to avoid overly vocal political (and religious) garbage in my feed. or at least block users who post this stuff ... or something.

i had a few more, but i think you get the gist of what i'm saying here. am i alone?? do other people see these things on pinterest and get pissed off too??

i have to be honest, the usability of pinterest is really suffering because of its mass appeal. these days, i only go on when i know what i'm looking for ... because then i can search for it, or narrow the feed (i.e. if i'm looking for nursery decor inspiration, i can narrow to "kids" or search "nursery"). and if i'm looking for inspiration around the home, i narrow to DIY/crafts. but the problem there for me, is that then i miss out on the following categories: architecture, art, design, home decor, gardening, and outdoors. and i want to see all of those feeds ... at once.

people like me really cause a big problem for pinterest, because gone are the days of me getting lost in their site for hours. it's too annoying to sift past the pins i don't want to see to get to the stuff i do ... and to check out all the categories that i'm interested in. i really miss being able to opt in and out of all the categories at once, and personalize my feed.

does anyone else feel the same way?? am i just being an old curmudgeon who doesn't like change, or the young folk comin in and messing everything up??