Okay, it’s not just Pinterest. I was almost ready to put this in the Pit but come to think of it I’m only mildly annoyed.
I’m looking for something. I put search terms into Google, and something comes up. It’s a thing on Pinterest. What I see is a main page with a thing like what I’m looking for, and then off to the side are some other similar items.
One of those similar items is exactly what I’m looking for.
So I click it.
Bam! I’m somewhere else, where I have to sign into Pinterest, which I do.
And then I get this little bar that asks me what I’m interested in!
What the fuck do you think I’m interested in you stupid little computer program? I’m interested in the fucking thing I clicked on! Which is now nowhere in sight!
And when I put in the exact same search terms I used to find it in the first place, it doesn’t come up. Nor does the page on Pinterest that I started from.
I’ve had that exact experience searching for knitting patterns. Clearly, I don’t understand how Pinterest works, and, based on that annoying glitch, I’m not really motivated to find out.
To add to it, since I downloaded the Pinterest app, it has been sending me emails letting me know that various strangers are “following” me. I hope they have been enjoying contemplating my completely blank board.
Well, I kept trying. I eventually DID get back to the page that first came up…and the pictures on the side, showing the thing I really wanted, are NOT THERE.
Okay. I do not know how to work this thing. I wish I could find that thing somewhere else.
I agree. I feel like I’m in an endless loop, sometimes, and I know people just look at things and think, “That looks cute,” or “That looks yummy,” and they pin or repin until their boards are full.
Most times I look for tiny print somewhere that has a web site address, and click on that. From there I can usually get to the original site.
For example, I just saw a pin for cheesecake cookies. In small print it said, From kitchme.com
So I clicked on those words and it took me to kitchme.com.
I have also just put the name of the recipe in google and looked for a recipe with the same photo as on the Pinterest pin, and that works easier than trying to find it on Pinterest.
IMO, the best way to find knitting and crochet patterns is via Ravelry.
Meh - all sites of this type have those people who think that the number of followers they have means “something”. And enough people who think it’s somehow rude not to follow back someone who follows them. The end result is that people in the first group go around following everyone they can find.
When I first signed up for Pinterest, it asked me what I was interested in (general subjects like crafts or cooking), and then added some boards for me to follow based on that. Maybe that’s what’s happening when it asks you what you’re interested in? Maybe you need to have a certain number of people/boards to follow before it’s happy?
It sounds like the small block of pictures on the right are from the board that particular pin was pinned to. I notice that what you see isn’t what’s right at top of the board - if I want to find a pin I saw on the board it said it was on, I often have to scroll down quite a bit. Especially, people get on pinning jags, and add dozens of pins to a board in a small time block.
For those who love Pinterest, you must start following the blog Pinstrosity.
It’s almost as annoying as those sites which when they can’t find the url you clicked on, instead of having the decency to show a 404, send you to their homepage. Which is of no use whatsoever.
Still in this case, now you know what to expect, duplicate the original tab before signing in on it ( Firefox has an extension, duplicate tab ); once signed in, click the link on the duplicate, which will pick up on your new signed in status.
I sometimes think all these little tricks designers pull in the name of slickness are purposed to destroy the internet.
I now make most of my google searches -pinterest … drives me batty and I don’t want to be redirected through their site. I just want to go direct and not be traffic for them.
Oh, Ravelry is always my first stop, but there have been some occasions where I was looking for something really specific and even their pretty good search capacity failed.
When Pinterest started, you had to have someone invite you to join, which is so stupid. I signed up for Pinterest a few weeks ago and have lost interest. It’s almost impossible to search and it’s just a bunch of junk from other blogs which get you caught in the endless loop. I’m guessing you can find these same blogs by doing a Google/Bing search.