Pinterst describes itself as the "world’s catalog of ideas". Each day, millions of people turn to the website to find new ideas, such as new recipes to cook, new outfits to try, or new places to travel.

When I first discovered Pinterest, I thought it was great. I used it to find cute craft ideas for homemade Christmas presents, party planning ideas, and more. "There are so many unique ideas!" I used to think, until I realized that everyone was painting the same quotes on wooden signs and giving away the same burlap covered mason jars.

While there are many good ideas out there, the same pins seem to circulate and appear on everyone's boards. And before you know it, everyone is making a cookie-cutter copy of someone else’s ideas.

And Pinterest ideas are affecting more than just cutesy crafts and gifts, they're affecting everything.

For example, wedding photographers are being asked to recreate poses and photographs from Pinterest. In fact, I came across an interesting article from a wedding photographer's prospective. "When our focus is on recreating, we aren’t able to truly create," the photographer wrote.

Truly, recreating a photo from Pinterest takes a lot of time to stage, and ultimately that time that could be better spent creating something original and unique to you. Anyway, photos should be representations of who you are, not a copy of something you saw online.

This same struggle is also affecting the tattoo industry. In another article, the author interviews a couple of tattoo artists. “None of us enjoy when you bring in a picture off of Pinterest and ask us to tattoo it,” one tattoo artist said. “And we’ll do it because it’s your body. It would be so much better though if you came in and said, ‘I want a couple of arrows; will you draw them for me?’ because that’s what we do for a living.”

So, is Pinterest ruining creativity?

First of all, what does being creative really mean? Let's take a minute and look at how the dictionary defines creativity:

"the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc."

With this in mind, is replicating a little picture on the computer really being creative? In my opinion, it's just copying. Plus, trying too hard to replicate something takes away the fun of creating, and often results in a sense of dissatisfaction when you can't make it exactly like you saw it online.

Like all social media platforms, Pinterest is a tool, and it all depends on how that tool is used. Certainly, inspiration fuels creativity, and Pinterest is a great way to get inspired. However, true creativity is an expression of ideas that stem from connections and have personal meaning.

So, don't let Pinterest stifle your originality. Use it to get inspired, but don't copy... make it your own!