Pinterest: A Happy Place

Being informed is important. Constantly surrounding yourself with media—whether it be TV news, social media, radio, or digital news alerts is not healthy.

When Denver went into “lockdown” in March of 2020, Instagram and Facebook—my most-used social platforms at the time became places where I’d fall into the trap of doomscrolling. (Doomscrolling is defined by Merriam-Webster as the tendency to continue to surf or scroll through bad news, even though that news is saddening, disheartening, or depressing.)

Although these platforms were valuable to keep me informed and stay in touch with friends and family throughout the world, I found myself spending far more time than was healthy consuming depressing content.

I realized I needed to curate a digital happy place for myself not to ignore the content or conversations I was seeing on Facebook and Instagram but so I could balance my time online between exploring the serious issues on those platforms, and dreaming about a brighter and more beautiful future.

So I turned to Pinterest.

Pinterest is home to a wealth of content...and here are some ways you can turn Pinterest into your happy place too!

Use Pinterest to dream

Whether you’re planning a trip, virtually exploring a new city, planning decadent meals, or designing your dream house (like me!), Pinterest is a great place to define and organize your dreams and the things that bring you joy.

You can follow brands and creators with your style, search for dream destinations, and curate your feed to represent your dream world.

Even if these dreams aren’t necessarily attainable in your immediate future, Pinterest can be an incredible tool to manifest your future goals by

If you’re planning to redecorate your living room, search “mid-century modern living room” or “living room paint ideas.”

Save the pins you like, and the Pinterest algorithm will show you more similar content on your home feed. And on a practical level, the more specific you are about what you want, the more likely you are to make it happen.

It’s easy to think of this social media/ search engine hybrid as a hub for recipes and wedding ideas, but I learned this year that Pinterest can be so much more.

Get specific!

Pinterest, though often considered a social media platform, functions much more like a search engine. So don’t be afraid to get really specific in your search to find the most relevant content!

For example, if you’re planning a camping trip in your local area, don’t necessarily just search “camping Colorado.” Instead, search “best campsites an hour from Denver” or “easy camping recipes.”

Search for what you love!

Even if you’re not planning for anything in particular, you can use Pinterest to digitally surround yourself with things that make you happy! Pinterest can be a great place to find anything from inspirational quotes to memes, and beautiful art illustration to puppy pictures.

Search for your favorite aesthetics (cottagecore, witchy woods aesthetic), dream destinations (Mykonos, Rio de Janeiro), incredible natural landmarks (Koh Yao Islands, Swiss Alps), and surround yourself digitally with your favorite things.

DM us on Instagram @keepsocialmediasocial to tell us how you create your happy place on Pinterest!