great for inspiration but AI and ads are out of control
The app itself works just fine. I enjoy using it for inspiration and to help me visualize things for future plans or projects, so in that way it continues to mostly serve its original purpose. However, it seems every time I’m on there I get served more and more AI generated images. The amount of ads was frustrating enough for a while, but now I will get pages of imagery that isn’t actually showing real places or even real people. If I’m using Pinterest to get ideas for a realistically achievable patio space, or a new hair style or hair color, I don’t want to see computer-generated images of women who all have the same face or a landscaping job that doesn’t actually exist. Pinterest has a lot of value as a tool to help communicate goals and visual wants to professionals working with clients. How is it fair to professional designers if their clients keep bringing them images of things that never existed in reality in the first place? How is it fair to those same artists and designers if the work that is getting pinned and shared is not theirs, but is instead generated by a machine ? It’s frustrating at a basic level and very eerie and disturbing at another. I would love to see Pinterest advocate for the artists, designers, and content creators who use this space by cracking down on AI-generated posts. At least then the amount of ads might be more tolerable.
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Glitchy
This is so glitchy. Sometimes it organizes my boards in a way that I didn't organize and I try to change it, but it doesn't work, and every few days I use it, all of the pins are just blank colors, and it doesn't work for a whole day even on my computer, and when I google it, it's always like “probably needs updating,” but it doesn't, and it glitches if you've blocked someone. If you didn't unfollow them first, it says you will be following an extra person, but only lists the people you're actually following, but the following number will always be one extra.
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Hate the shopping feature
As a mobile user I loved being able to swipe down after opening a pin to continue browsing. Now almost every time I swipe an image I get random objects outlined in the pin to ‘shop’ with the image search feature (if you can call it a feature). Mobile use is one handed. Having users awkwardly reach to the top of the other side of the pin to click a ‘close’ icon button or selectively picking a spot in the image to swipe down from instead of swiping down anywhere is incredibly poor user experience and demonstrates how social media apps and platforms continue to put profit over users. Every. Time. As a long time lover of Pinterest as a concept and having spent much time on the app, I stomached the heavy use of ads when it was introduced but now I can’t spend more than 5 minutes on here without getting so frustrated I close it.
Pinterest, if you want some ideas - you can keep your shopping feature but how about you have to tap and hold an image to get shopping options. I have no doubt many of your employees came up with the same idea but someone higher up preferred that users accidentally tap through to third party shopping platforms when trying to navigate away from a pin because that meant more money in their pocket.
Pinterest, if you want some ideas - you can keep your shopping feature but how about you have to tap and hold an image to get shopping options. I have no doubt many of your employees came up with the same idea but someone higher up preferred that users accidentally tap through to third party shopping platforms when trying to navigate away from a pin because that meant more money in their pocket.
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