20 3 / 2012
Why my dad is proof Pinterest is here to stay
What am I talking about? Men aren’t supposed to like Pinterest, right? ESPECIALLY not 50 year old men who live on farms and can barely use computers. Well…
At first I was worried Pinterest was just a fad and that it would pass, but then I went to Nova Scotia to visit my parents. They haven’t even had high speed internet for a year and my mom is already on Facebook, Twitter and now Pinterest. This doesn’t surprise me much because she’s pretty good with computers and typing from her days as a secretary in the 80s. My dad, however, has never really gotten the hang of computers. He often refers to typing as a regression and says we are ‘reverting back to Morse code.’
But, I think we might have had a breakthrough. Pinterest.
You see, my parents live in an old farmhouse full of stuff. Pinterest is great for DIY-inclined people like my dad to go on, type in “cow skulls” or “bullet shells” and see what comes up. Recently, my dad made his first Pinterest project. He cut a glass bottle to make a vase.
Maybe now my dad will finally stop razzing me for communicating via Morse code for a living and will start to understand the value of the internet. Or maybe he’ll just be content with browsing Pinterest for DIY inspiration.
So, I believe if Pinterest can engage people who would otherwise have no use for a computer, it must be doing something right. My dad is now compelled to sit down and browse pin boards, and that tells me that it might just stick around. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
