We can’t all be little Miss Suzy Homemaker – or little Miss Polly Pinterest

Crissy Lintner

I learned of this new phenomenon the other day: Pinterest Stress. Yes, there is such a thing as Pinterest Stress. Think about your Pinterest feed. What do you like to pin? Birthday party ideas for your 2-year-old? Creative crafts to do with your kids? Family garden ideas? Ah-mazing cupcake towers – and the healthiest dinner ideas for your family to offset the ah-mazing cupcake tower you plan to build? Now, how likely are you – especially if you’re a busy mom – to actually do any of these things and have the same outcome as what you see in the photos?  

If you’re one of the lucky few to have successfully replicated one of the many projects you’ve found on Pinterest, congratulations! But for the rest of us, there’s Pinterest Stress: the state of being in which a mom feels inadequate compared to other moms (or businesses) who post their ideas and projects on Pinterest. By the way, for a good laugh and to feel better about your Pinterest fails, check out PinterestFail.com. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joebehr/5236066097/

In an online survey conducted by TODAY Moms, 42 percent of 7,000 moms said they sometimes suffer from Pinterest Stress – worrying they’re not crafty or creative enough. Some women even stayed up until 3 a.m. searching for the perfect party favors for their child’s birthday party – only to end up buying them from the dollar store or spending way too much only to have a Pinterest Fail of their own. One of the women cited in the article even talks about how she had to eventually “break up” with Pinterest. 

I don’t use Pinterest in my personal life because I simply don’t have time to spend on one more social site. Obsidian’s clients, on the other hand, do. And many of my friends do. I see more recipes on my Facebook newsfeed these days than real posts! 

And, what this survey tells me is that despite the so-called stress caused by Pinterest, moms are seeking ideas, whether that’s a great DIY-project or gift ideas that perhaps only require the debit card rather than creative know-how. The key, as my colleague Lauren Hannaford mentioned in a post back in January, is for companies to provide useful information that doesn’t simply scream, “Buy my product.” If you’re providing tips, photos, step-by-step instructions, DIY home improvement ideas and creative boards that complement your company’s offerings (like these great examples), then you are already on your way to contributing to Pinterest Stress! Just beware – your project or idea might end up on the list of fails by some of us less-crafty moms of the world.