Collaborative Yearning:

Pinterest, Desire, and the Collecting Impulse

excerpt:

“…Pinterest users collectively decide which images are worth collecting; this is what the “dream home” looks like, or the ideal garden, or the perfect outfit. By holding on to “other people’s pictures”, Pinterest users imagine and collect their own futures. To pin an image onto a Pinterest board simulates the satisfaction of “owning” that image- it is yours, it is something you can return to and covet in your collection. As a result, the same collecting impulse present in the collection of physical objects and film photography is alive in Pinterest’s discovery and collecting functions. 

Since its launch in 2010, Pinterest has functioned as a “place for inspiration” for its users around the world. Of its 431 million monthly active users, 86% say they use Pinterest to plan projects. Pinterest boards seem similar to the traditional inspiration board form on the surface. However, Pinterest boards all share the same formatting and organization- rectangular, with each image fitting within the same vertical column dimensions on the webpage; and chronological, with newest “pins” at the top of each board. Beyond its visual differences from traditional inspiration boards, Pinterest functions differently as a design tool. Each user can organize boards how they wish, while Pinterest's algorithm will detect the contents of each board, predict which images a user will pin to which board, and suggest new content to users based on their past pins…”

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