?The Pinterest Effect?: The Economic Impact of Pinterest ? Her View ...

Editors note:? Traci is an ?old? Gamma Phi friend from my college days.? She blogs over at My Job is Amusing and makes me laugh out loud every time I read her posts.? You may remember a link we posted a while back about Traci?s husband delivering her baby?? At her home???? Yea.? We remember, too.? Here?s the link ~ you don?t want to miss it.?

Traci will be writing for Her View From Home this fall!? Yeah!? We will unveil more of her work (along with many other contributors) with the new launch.? Can?t wait to have her on board!? Here?s a sneak peek at her writing!? ~Leslie

**Authors Note: I have made up every single fact that I have reported in this blog post. There is no evidence to support a single claim I make. All statistics are based on anecdotal presumptions.

Thank you for taking a break from ?pinning? in order to read this post. I am not under the delusion that a single word I will say to you today will add anything to your life as valuable as what pinterest brings you on a day to day basis, but I am very pleased that you are here. When you are finished, please head straight to the store to pick up a yard of burlap and some PVC pipe for your next project.

The truth is, very little on the web can hold a candle to the phenomenon that is pinterest. I mean, come on?Preschool lunches featuring organic ingredients cut into silly shapes! How to make a $30 IKEA cabinet into a custom built-in using a hack saw & spray paint! Inspirational quotes shown using hipster graphic design! 431 ways to entertain your 2 year old! A tutorial on how to convert a ratty old sweatshirt into an adorable baby romper! How to make your own Mod Podge, Febreeze, ketchup, bug spray, or even a reed diffuser!

It?s all too much.

No matter how many pins you?ve seen, you remain in awe that you now hold the key to so much life change and possess such a wealth of knowledge. You feel inspired to purchase & create?and so does everyone else.

This mutual inspiration has caused a ripple effect in the economy that is changing lives for the better?

?AND for the worse (cue daunting music).

Today, I will share with you the economic victims of what I call ?The Pinterest Effect??as well as its top beneficiaries.

*VICTIM #1:?THE PAINT INDUSTRY: The manufacturers of interior & exterior house paint have been the hardest hit by the Pinterest effect. Behr, a captain of the industry, has reportedly been forced to lay off 5% of its work force. Why? Paint chip theft. Paint chips aren?t cheap people, and since the launch of pinterest, paint companies have had to increase paint chip production by 22%. My case in point: projects like these which are all over Pinterest:

Women have been hitting hardware stores in droves tucking paint chips into their home sewn satchels. There is actually a warrant out for the arrest of the person whose bedroom is photographed above.

The ripple effect of this thievery is drastic?countless jobs have been lost. This is the sad but true result of selfish pinterest crafting.

*VICTIM #2: THE WORLD OF COOKBOOKERY

With the influx of recipes available on pinterest, cookbook authors & publishers are encountering bleak times. Amazon has reported a 11.4% drop in sales in the cookbook genre since the invention of pinterest. Pulling a stack of cookbooks off the shelf is becoming a less and less popular way to plan dinner. Women are now choosing to do their meal planning online, especially through pinterest. Poor Betty Crocker.

*VICTIM #3: PERSONAL SAVINGS ACCOUNTS

Pinterest exposes users to a vast amount of clothing, home decor, makeup, craft supplies, jewelry, children?s products, books, party supplies, & electronics that would not have been discovered otherwise. This exposure creates not only the urge to buy an item here and there, but a general desire to attain a certain ?way of life?. Whether it be the modern urbanite, the hyper organized stay at home mom, the granola yuppie, geek chic, the vintage hipster, or countless other lifestyle options..a pinterest user can often find themselves with a unspoken yearning to create a world for themselves that looks like the pins on their boards.

This affects the economy in a positive way: increased spending. Sadly though, there is a voiceless victim in this unspoken urge to create a pinteresting life: a pinterest users? savings account. Unfortunately, making your own hand soap, laundry detergent, and play dough does not quite make up for the increased spending of these pinterest addicts, therefore they have less money to set aside for a rainy day (but don?t worry- they have a list of 200 free rainy day activities pinned on their ?Ideas? board!!).

*VICTIM #4: REAL PHOTOGRAPHERS

These days, photography tutorials ?are all over pinterest. This has created a flood of?amateur?photographers onto the economic landscape. Everyone now has a friend with a photography habit and a basic level of knowledge regarding concepts like aperture, white balance, & ISO. Many people are now choosing to have these ?wannabes? take their family/baby/event photographs instead of enlisting the talents of actual professionals, thus harming an actual professional photographer?s bottom line.

*VICTIM #5: FONT DESIGNERS

With free fonts galore, no one is paying for their fonts these days. The field of Font Design has seen a 40% decrease in employment (Seriously though, Font Designer?is that a thing?)

OTHER PRODUCT/INDUSTRY VICTIMS (due to the ?make your own? craze): Salad dressing, Febreeze, laundry soap, crayons, play dough, glue, household cleaners, toothpaste, cooking spray, flavored jello, Bisquick, tea bags (OK so perhaps this isn?t true?I mean, has ANYONE that has pinned these make your own ideas actually followed through? Please comment.)

Shame. Shame. Shame.

Don?t you fret for long! The economic news isn?t all bad, it?s time to share the BENEFICIARIES?of the Pinterest effect?

*Embroidery?Hoop Manufacturers everywhere

*Any designer who chooses Chevron?

*Etsy sellers- those?who don?t want to follow the oodles of tutorials on pinterest just head on over to etsy & buy things from people who aren?t such lazy piles (this would describe yours truly)

*Pallet producers-?Who knows where people find all these pallets, but someone somewhere has gotta be pleased with the popularity of all this pallet crapola

*Bloggers- Pinterest brings new readers to blogs like Russian gymnast Aliya Mustafina brings the attitude. Di.Va. ?Bloggers with advertisers see those added numbers and ads get added additionally. Bloggers without advertisers might become bloggers with advertisers if they keep on adding?pin worthy posts. Have you ad it with me?

*IKEA- so many ikea hacks, so little time. Spice racks are flying off the shelves, and sales of the Expedit shelf are up 14.5% alone.

*Thrift Stores/Antique shops/Flea Markets- Hoardes of prudent pinterest users have been flocking to these locations desperately seeking items to sand, spray paint, and refurbish.

*Anyone involved in the production of the following products: vinegar, FELT/felt balls, quinoa, bento boxes, kale, baking soda, nail polish, wreath forms, yarn, chalkboard paint, crock pots, oatmeal, rubber door mats, & mason jars

******

Oh Pinterest, you sly vixen. Thou giveth & thou taketh away.

TD

P.S. I know I?m poking some fun at good ole Pinterest, but I want ya?ll to know I?m definitely a fan. You want proof?? Well?I own a Chevron lamp shade, made a Pinterest recipe for dinner Friday, created one of those growth chart rulers, whipped up a wreath for my mantel, regularly pin funny things I come across (my favorite one), found Caroline?s party decoration ideas there, and I even tried one of the hair tutorials (and failed). I?m not great about pinning, but I look for things on there quite often. Next on the agenda: finally learn how to do my eye makeup at the age of 31.

P.P.S. No time for Sunshine/Raincloud on this post?I?ve gotta whip up a spinach & oatmeal smoothie with flax seed & drink it out of a mason jar.

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Source: http://herviewfromhome.com/the-pinterest-effect-the-economic-impact-of-pinterest-2/

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