Hello, my name is Rachel and I am addicted to Pinterest.

My obsession is with a social network that involves visually sharing and discovering new interests. Users can post their interests by ‘pinning’ images to a created board. This board is a collection of ‘pins’ that generally have a common theme. Pinterest allows for the browsing and perusing of what other users have pinned. Pinterest is literally a visually organized bookmarking tool that is absolutely intriguing.

If you are an organized, systematic and cataloguing freak, then Pinterest is your thing. Creating and coordinating boards and pins becomes very pleasing for your organizational needs. You know you are a Pinterest addict when your collection involves precisely classified and catalogued boards. Rather than having one board titled ‘food,’ you have boards to subcategorize ‘food,’ including boards such as: ‘breakfast,’ ‘lunch,’ ‘dinner,’ ‘and ‘dessert.’ Oh, and don’t forget the ‘snacks’ board.

My Pinterest board obsession has now reached a total of 103 boards.

What makes a person a Pinterest addict? Who are they and why are they obsessed?

Well, Pinterest appeals to a certain group of people, and you know who you are. It is that rare and special kind. It is teachers. I am guilty of this. I am studying early childhood education and sure enough, I am already an avid Pinterest user. Pinterest is a resource for educators. It is full of lesson plans, crafts, classroom management tips and so much more. Over half of my Pinterest boards consist of teacher related topics. ‘Math,’ ‘Science,’ ‘Reading,’ and Social Studies’ are only just a few of the many teacher related boards I have. I would like thank my college professor for exposing me to this raging ‘pinning’ machine. Now, I am a Pinterest fanatic.

You can also identify yourself as a Pinterest addict if you are infatuated with a certain Pinterest category. Pinterest allows one to search categories that will direct users to certain pins related to the desired category. If you are inclined to browse and pin in the ‘wedding’ category. then you indeed may have an obsession if you are anything like me. You don’t need to be engaged and you don’t even need a boyfriend to have a wedding Pinterest board. I began Pinterest planning my wedding long before I was with my boyfriend. That is a true hunger to pin. Pinterest allows me to plan and create my dream wedding. My ‘wedding inspiration board’ is filled with wedding favor ideas, dresses, color schemes, venues and more. My wedding is literally already planned and I am not even engaged. I thank you, Pinterest, for making my dreams somewhat of a reality.

Pinterest is a social network that has it all and lets you ‘pin it.’ You too can have it all. Even though half of the pins you pin on Pinterest probably are pointless, they serve a purpose. You may have hundreds of dinner ideas you never once tried, or craft ideas that you never got around to doing, but the pinning is not a waste. It will never be a waste because Pinterest exposes you to different ideas and thoughts through visuals.

There is a purpose to this pinning madness and I am not afraid to say that I am a Pinterest addict. To all of the obsessed pinners out there like me, keep on pinning my friends!