I don't "get" Pinterest.
 

People seem to really like Pinterest, but I just find it frustrating.

I see something I like, so I click on it, expecting to see it bigger or perhaps be taken to a place where you get info on it and quite often you end up somewhere else entirely!

Or, it will say "Free pattern", so I click and I can't find anywhere that they offer a pattern. So I click on something else and suddenly I'm 3 pages away from my original search. It's like Alice in Wonderland going down the rabbit hole.

I just don't get it.

Is it just to look at pretty things? Or is there actual information to be had and I just don't know how?

Watson

Watson, I agree with you. I've often tried to click on something of interest (free pattern etc) and I get nothing. I think but am not certain, that it's just to give you ideas. Another thing that bugs me is I looked on it to get ideas to reset my diamond and now I'm being bombarded with "weddings". I have a love-hate relationship with it :)

Sometimes the images link to free patterns, sometimes to patterns you can buy, and sometimes just to a photo. And, as you've discovered, sometimes to a black hole! It's a place to 'pin' ideas. You may not have a pattern from an image, but you will be able to keep the idea. If you are able to knock off your own patterns or draft from a picture, no problem. But if you need an actual pattern, you won't always find one.

I love Pinterest and have thousands of things pinned. It has replaced "bookmarking" for me.

I'm with you on that too. The "free" part is what makes me the most disappointed. I've found so many cute quilts that's say "free downloadable pattern" only to find out it was "free shipping" six years ago!

I functions as a filing system for me. As I move around the internet, I find things I want to try....like recipes , and I pin them to my account. Other times i find sites that I like and want to read, but are too long.....so I pin them and go back to them later. I find fabric I like, or online shops I like, and I pin them. But, I rarely just go to pinterest and let them lead me around to thing it thinks I would like.

I'm with you Watson. I don't get it. Yes, you can get ideas, but it doesn't help you to implement them. I'd rather look for ideas somewhere that I can actually find info on the pic instead of feeling like I'm being bounced around the internet

I use it for picture inspiration as I usually draft my own pattern. I have found some great tutorials. Think of it as an inspirational bulletin board.
I also use it to photo chronicle my finished projects.

When I go there it's usually just to get color/placement ideas. But, yes you are right it is a rabbit hole if you try to follow upon most pics. In the recipe/ food pics-- clicks most and it's a blog all about Me/I........I have found myself going there less often lately..

I should add that when I see a pic here or anywhere else, I usually save it in a folder on my computer and often print them out to hang on the wall in my sewing room. I like to have things up on the walls of my sewing room so I see them often.

I can't stand Pinterest! Like you say Watson, I can never find what I'm looking for when I try to follow someone else's pins, and I hate how it's so high in search results in Google because it's pretty much always a dead-end. Now I check the link and if it's to a Pinterest site I don't even click it because I know it'll just annoy me.

Seems if you have your own Pinterest site it's somewhat useful for keeping links to things, but I find that bookmarks work just fine for me and I don't have to have (yet another) social media site that I'm logging in to.