As far as I can tell, there are two reasons to use Pinterest. The first is to save everything in an organized way to the boards you create. The second is to find content – new pins, new ideas, new blogs, new stores, new recipes, new decorating styles, new products, etc. The first has not been changed and this post is not meant to address it. It's the second reason – to find new content – that has fundamentally changed and that I mean to address in this post.
A Brief History of Pinterest's Evolution
Where does Pinterest get its content? From us, its users. First, users who have blogs and other websites create "original pins," where we save content from our websites in the hopes that it will drive traffic to our sites (and for me it does - currently, more people find me through Google searches than through Pinterest, although for a long time the opposite was true.) Second, users also create "original pins" from other people's websites from all over the internet to save the things we love. Third, users "repin" content that comes up in our feeds from our followers or from a search.
In the past and as I'm sure you all remember, users told Pinterest what they wanted to see in their feed by following fellow pinners. For a while, all was good and the site took off and everyone loved it. Those were the good old days.
Then at some point not too long ago, Pinterest took away the ability for users to see their pins in their own feed. I actually want to see my own pins and can't understand why excluding your own pins wouldn't be an option rather than mandatory, but in my opinion it wasn't the end of the world when Pinterest made that change.
Next, at some point Pinterest added the ability to follow interests as well as pinners. Great, I guess. No harm done.
Inevitably, at some other point, Pinterest then started advertising through "promoted pins." I guess it was a matter of time, and we probably all saw it coming. Still, it was in no way a deal breaker for me. Just like any other website, Pinterest has the ultimate goal of being profitable. Sponsored pins are a perfectly reasonable approach, in my opinion. Although in some ways promoted pins choose content for the user, all advertising does that, and again, I was fine with it.
Then Pinterest added "buyable pins." They say they are not making money off of these. I really don't care either way. I understand that these pins are going to come up in my feed the same way advertisements, or promoted pins, do and I'm fine with it. No one is forcing me to click them, after all.
But now, for me it is the final straw. I can accept all of the rest of the changes and still be an ardent fan and daily user of Pinterest. But the new "smart feed" is a disaster and if it is truly the future of Pinterest, I'll be using Instagram and other sources to find new ideas rather than Pinterest. I didn't see that coming and it saddens me tremendously.
The New Smart Feed
With the smart feed, Pinterest decided that it would no longer simply show you the pins of the people or businesses you follow in chronological order. Rather, it would choose your content for you.
Wait, what?! This is mind-boggling to me. I have read that the smart feed utilizes the same methods that search engines do to show you the pins that it thinks you will want to see in a stated effort to enhance user experience. There are massive problems with this approach, and in my opinion it is not at all well thought out. After having used it for a while now, here are my problems with it:
It's paternalistic and controlling. We had a good thing going Pinterest. Why did you have to go and tell me what I want to see? It's annoying and insulting and so far you've gotten it wrong every single time I have logged in. The bottom line is I know what I want to see better than your algorithm ever will. And I pretty effectively told you what I wanted to see when I followed people and boards that I liked. Seriously, being able to control our own individualized content was the draw of Pinterest in the first place and to fundamentally change that user control is misguided.
Go ahead and suggest all the pins you want as far as I'm concerned, and use any algorithm you want to pick them. But for goodness sake, don't stop also showing us the pins that we specifically told you we want to see. Honestly, this is a no-brainer. It is so obvious that it is mind boggling that it has to pointed out, and I think evidences a clear misunderstanding of user motivation.
But far and away the biggest problem with the new smart feed is that it brings old content to the top of the feed and encourages people to re-pin older pins, sold out items, obsolete ideas, and the like. In the new smart feed, pins that have proven success (among other things) will show up first. Well, proven success means it has already been pinned a lot. Here's the problem – things that have already been pinned a lot have already been seen a lot. They are also, almost by definition, older. In fact, my new "smart" feed consistently shows me lots of old pins that I have already pinned. And not once, but over and over and over again. Do you guys go to Pinterest to see pins that you have already saved? To see decorating ideas from three years ago? To see what a celebrity wore to the Grammys two years ago? To see outdated paint colors? Neither do I.
Maybe there are people and businesses out there that want to see older content, but it's hard to imagine. And I know from tracking it in the analytics that every single thing I pin from this website or any other that is "new" is not being shown in my followers' feeds. But Pinterest assures that as these pins become liked and repinned they will be shown more often, and will therefore "eventually" be seen. This seems completely illogical because if they are not showing the new pin in the first place, how will it be liked and pinned and become popular? But more importantly, who wants to "eventually" see the next new big thing? We want to see it when it is fresh. Sadly, we may now have to go to Instagram for that.
Another of my objections relates to products. I follow a lot of stores and pin from a lot of retailers. Well, the new smart feed also brings old products to the top of my feed (and yours). I can't tell you how many times in the last few weeks I have clicked on something I like only to be taken to the store to tell me that it is sold out or unavailable. Well I guess of course it is, because the pin is two years old but is nevertheless showing up at the top of my feed. I don't think I need to explain how ridiculous that is for sellers and buyers alike.
I did an experiment by repinning old products from my own boards that had generated a lot of repins in the past, but that are sold out. I did this for unavailable items to see whether repins of popular items are shown the way older pins of the same item are. Unfortunately, both come up in the smart feed - popular old pins as well as repins of that same item, whether it is still available or not. This makes sense since it seems unlikely that an algorithm could ever really know if the item is still available. It is unfortunate though, and leaves a negative taste in the mouth of the user who sees something they want and then finds out it is not available. I think this will be damaging to Pinterest as well as to people like me who were the original pinners of products long ago when they were available.
Additionally, Pinterest allows pay per click links through ShopStyle, which means spammers have more of an incentive than ever to re-pin popular items regardless of whether they are available. In fact, that's the only way they can succeed, since their new pins (i.e., newer products) will not be shown at the same rate. So by definition the only product pins you really are going to initially see are old ones that are in many, many cases unavailable. So Pinterest has seemingly just negated a huge portion of retail use. Ouch.
Despite all this, I have gained a record number of followers in the last couple of weeks, since smart feed was fully integrated for me. I have no idea why and would trade it back for the old way if I could. I have no interest in getting new followers who are clicking through to old content that is no longer relevant. If they click through to a product that is unavailable, they get mad at me for "spamming" or pinning it in the first place (when in fact it was Pinterest who decided to show it to them two years late). That's not good for business. Likewise, it is not good for my business to have users click through to find a blog post that has dated content. In fact, it's not good for me to even have that pin come up in their feed because they will associate me with older and outdated content. Outside of when users search and discover old pins, this should not happen on Pinterest.
I recently wrote to Pinterest support to ask why my analytics were down so much. This was before I had researched the new smart feed, so I didn't know the answer yet. Pinterest's response? "Maybe you should buy ads." Wow. I guess if that's the way you want to go Pinterest, that is your right. But I think it's ill-advised. (In fairness, I have interacted with Pinterest support pretty regularly over the years and have nothing but good things to say other than in this instance and it has nothing to go with the employee and everything to do with company strategy.)
According to some, the new smart feed was to be introduced gradually and was meant to not even be noticed. Well, we noticed. And I think I speak for the majority when I say we hate it. I have not been able to find one positive thing from a single person anywhere online about the new smart feed.
Honestly, I would pay to use Pinterest if it would go back to the old way, where I could control my feed. I know that all good things come to an end, but I am begging you Pinterest, please don't be one of them. I'll make due without you If I have to Pinterest. But will you make due without us? I hope you'll reconsider the smart feed.
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CLICK HERE TO ADD A COMMENT
This is probably the only time I will ever ask you for negative comments. I have said good and bad things about Pinterest before on this blog, and many of you have commented with your own thoughts. I am begging you to do so again here. Good or bad – if I have it wrong please tell me. And if I have it right, please tell Pinterest in the comments. If this post gets enough views and interaction, it's possible someone at Pinterest will read it.
Final note: The article that provided me with the most insight into the subject is here. It explains things better than I ever could. Also, this and this.
And please pin this (not that anyone will see it- haha!)
J
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Wow, thank you for explaining this! I knew something was wrong but couldn't figure out why I kept seeing the same stuff over and over again. Yes I want the old method back and soon!!!
I've stopped scrolling on Pinterest and just do my own searches for items now to combat this it has been so irritating to not see anything fresh. Now I know why!
I am so unhappy with the new Pinterest that I no longer ever go there except to save my own pins from other sources. So, in effect, I am using it only as a glorified bookmark and never look at my feed at all.
I dislike the way Pinterest is now that I rerelease go to it where in the old style of Pinterest went several times a day.
The joy of browsing the sight is no longer there.
Soon it will be of absolutely no use to me as now favor my blogs.
I am no longer able to find my pins the way I could in the past.
So the way I see it is Pinterest has ruined a sight that was so creative and popular.
Now we will no longer need as we are unable to easily find our personal pins and the people we chose to enjoy .
I noticed the difference and am most unhappy with the changes. I also am using the site less often and may give it up altogether. Don't fix something if it's not broken.
You are 100% right! I am so annoyed each time I log into Pinterest to see promoted and picked pins, particularly since I opted out of these in my account settings. At one point I found a tool that allows you to remove all such content from your landing page. The result? My page is at least 60% blank - the content I want to see does not "tile up".
This is very disappointing, and I go to Pinterest less and less. Right now, I use it primarily for private boards shared with my daughter for projects and subjects we find interesting.
I agree. I want to see new pins from people I follow.
I wish to thank the New Pinterest as it has successfully cured my former, all consuming Pinterest addiction! In its early days, hours would slip past as I explored Pinterest, regularly amazed, amused and inspired. Now in recovery, thankfully, I no longer lose hours, lost down the formerly wonderful Pinterest rabbit hole. The feed is now a complete and utter disappointment, devoid of much evidence from the creative and diverse pinners I took such pleasure in discovering and following. Nor do I recommend it to others. If anyone is listening at Pinterest, a revolt is in the works among your legion fans or should I say former fans? Instagram, here I come.
YES. YES. YES. You are right on. I have become increasingly frustrated w Pinterest. My whole news feed are items I have previously pinned. I was so annoyed w Facebook when it decided whose posts I should see first. I guess I became accustomed to it because at least I had the option of seeing the most recent post, and maybe I was just clinging to the past. In Pinterest I have no control! Can't understand how this would benefit them??? My news feed has become less original, less creative and consistently more redundant. I hope they hear us!
Thank you for your post! As others, I have stopped scrolling through my Pinterest feed and post from the bloggers I follow. I absolutely hate the "Picked for you" pins!! And they totally outnumber the pins I want to see. Pinterest please listen! Make smart feed optional!
Thank you for your post. I have been using Pinterest less because of this change but I didn't realize this was the reason. I couldn't pinpoint my dislike but knew changes had been made to their feed. I too want to see new pins not older pins.
I completely agree. I Do Not Like the new Pintrest Smart Feed and will no longer continue using Pintrest. Pintrest has no idea what I want to look at and how dare they try to control what I want to research and look at. Pintrest you are putting yourself out of bisuness!
Yes Stacey, I agree with your analysis! I too hate all the old and dated content being at the top of my feeds. I hope Pinterest is listening, Pinterest is loosing its appeal quickly. So sad!
Thank you for explaining this! I have been using Pinterest less lately and wonder if this
is the reason. I noticed that 'nothing seemed new' or 'nothing was catching my attention.'
Now I know why!
Never realized what the problem was til you explained it. Thank you. I kinda feel like it's an invasion of my privacy, on some level. I have to do searches now. Stinks. Hate it!
Wow, I really hate the new smart feed too, dead ends every time, going to spend more time on IG.
Like others I have been really unhappy with the behaviour from Pinterest in the recent months. As you said "paternalistic." It's is difficult to communicate with Pinterest and I always feel i'm not listened to. I like the former way it operated where I could see CURRENT pins from people I choose to follow. What's the point of following anyone if they decide who I'm to follow. I Have 1 000s of pins I'd love to save somewhere else and maybe i'll have to start to find a way to keep them and drop Pinterest. It is too annoying and unfulfilling as it stands. Cathy
My husband kept asking me why I hadn't been on Pinterest much. THIS is why. I want the old style back. I once thought nothing
Would curb my addiction for Pinterest-- but in fact, the changes Pinterest has made has made me no longer seek their site for fresh information. Thank you for writing about this.
I couldn't agree with you more! I was a faithful Pinterest user from day 1 and now the love has fizzled. Part of the lure of Pinterest for me was to discover ideas that I hadn't already thought of. The ability for Pinterest to get my creative juices flowing and the number of times that I visit Pinterest has greatly decreased. Love lost, Pinterest!
I'm so disappointed in the way Pinterest has changed. I used to look forward to using it everyday. Now I rarely use it because it's not stuff I want to see. Please go back to the way it was!
I have stopped using Pinterest with all the new changes.
Pinterest, why have you done this ?
I use to use it for several hours a day!
It's terrible- I will not be using it- other than referring to my pins- unless it changes back or gets corrected.
I totally agree with your entire post! I have been an ardent supporter of Pinterest since the inception and absolutely hate the current format.
Pinterest has gone from my favorite site to most frustrating. I would pay a monthly fee to have pinterest return to original format. Once again, an example of greed will result in their demise. Very sad...
Thank you for this explanation and ability to sound off our own frustration. I rarely go to Pinterest any more except to access some of my own boards and pins. The smart feed is only providing one product now rather than an expanse of interests from favorite pinners. This serves no purpose for me, therefore no need for me to log into it. I am so sorry this app has changed to the point that it may cease to exist.
I noticed the difference but didn't understand why. Thanks for explaining it. I've found that I use the Pinterest feed less and less because I've already pinned the items I'm seeing. I miss the old way of doing things, Pinterest!
I am so glad you explained the problem. I use to be on Pinterest EVERY time I could. I am so disappointed with the new format. I feel like I see the same content over and over. Not at all what it use to be...very disappointing. I understand every business wants to make money but if they do so at the cost of losing their core base it will eventually fail as we have seen so many social media boards do. I hope they go back to the old format.
Now I have a framework for why I'm DOWN on Pinterest. I've been addicted for four years but am finding other ways to pass the time. Pinterest in it's new form is no fun and not very exciting....
The new setup on Pinterest is awful! I can't find anything and old pins keep popping up. Please go back to the way it was. Days go by and I don't even bother to look for interesting things to pin.
I vigorously was nodding yes with each paragraph I read. Used to be a Pinterest Evangelist but hate it now. It keeps showing me things I have already pinned and doesnt show me who I follow, so what is the point?,
I couldn't figure out what was going on and why I've been receiving pins that I never subscribed to! They've changed the platform so much it's irrating. So disappointing. I've had another online service in the last 2 months change the program that I pay for altered where I don't even recognize the site anymore, that I'm moving item by item off of this site. Plan is to stop paying them for such poor service, it's not what I signed up for. I loved Pintrest now they've left that bad taste in my mouth. I don't want them to show me what they think I want to see. Sad they ruined a great thing.
I agree. I stopped scrolling my feed when I started seeing "Picked for you". I only want to see people I follow and their most current pins!! I don't mind if after I pinned something they show me "related pins" because I can choose or not choose to take that route. What I find myself doing is (on my phone) going straight to News and seeing what "my people" are pinning. And yes, guess what? I'm using Instagram way more now. Pinterest please stop showing me the over-pinned old stuff.
I am so disappointed in Pinterest. Every time they make a change, it is worse and worse. So sad....
I want to see the pins of people I follow! I rarely use it now.
In the land of the the free, who would've thought pinners would want to follow anything other than what they personally CHOSE to follow? It's almost as if someone is telling me what I like. I have gone to other ways to get inspiration, as Pinterest has become oppressive.
Yes Pinterest isn't what it use to be. It really just annoys me now. Like you said I use it as a glorified bookmark or something. One thing I especially dislike is say when I pin something and 100 versions of that come up in my feed!! "I just pinned that. I don't want to only see that." I found that when I do want to take a cruise around Pinterest I use my Ipad because I haven't / can't update the app. So it's the older version!! Sometimes older is better!
Pinterest should listen To You before they go the way of Walmart, who refused to listen to its customers, and now Walmart is falling. Their last attempt to listen, After their stock became devalued, was Too Late. The same problem J.C. Penney had as well. Not listening to its original and loyal supporters, like you. MC
Thank you for posting. I am extremely disappointed in the new changes. Essentially, it makes Pinterest not worth using for me.
I too think Pinterest"s days are numbered if they don't figure things out and listen to their users. I'm a designer and hardly ever use Pinterest anymore because of all their alterations. I miss using it as a valuable tool for my business. Thank you for explaining the evolution of the site.
Thank You for explaining this. I too could not understand why, during the holiday season, I didn't get many holiday decor pins. I knew something was wrong when I pinned a poem about a deceased mother in memory of my deceased mother and 60 Percent of my feed came up with really depressing feeds on deceased mothers!! It was depressing!! I emailed pinterest and told them something was wrong and to please make it stop!!!! It seems I hardly get new content so it seems pointless to go to pinterest other than to pin from the my blogs and view my boards. I understand they have to support pinterest but there has to be a better way. I agree with you 100 percent.
In the last few months I've noticed that I been getting very few new followers, this after months of getting anywhere from one to ten new followers a day, especially for my history posts. I've also noticed that when you click on someone's post, it no longer shows you others who've posted the same pin, or who the pinner posted the new pin from, both ways that I've found some wonderful pinners to follow. VERY upsetting!
I totally agree - I am very unhappy with the "new and improved" Pinterest changes! I hardly use Pinterest anymore for the very reasons you stated. The last thing I want is for Pinterest to choose my content. It is very disappointing.
Hello... I agree with other comments that something was not right but could not figure out why I have not been using Pinterest anywhere near as much as I have in the past...I love the site but have had trouble maneuvering within it and have not found myself on there anywhere as often or as long as I have in the past. Terrible disappointment for one of my favorite sites of the past. Juhlgold
Awesome post Stacy - I agree with everything you say here. Pinterest is making a serious mistake - thank you for this post!!
Pinterest has had many changes that I don't appreciate. I have noticed that new content from those I've chosen to follow is no longer on my feed. Also, yesterday, in order to access my personal photos to pin I had to share with Pinterest. What?!
Stacey,
You are right on! I am not a blogger but love interior design. I have about 70 boards on Pinterest and started with them when Pinterest first came out. I have so loved it and the concept. But now it isn't anything like it used to be in a very negative way. In fact, I don't use it nearly as much. The Smart Feeds is awful and for all the reasons you have given. My Number One problem is that I no longer see the users I have said I wish to follow. All I get are these so called smart feeds - things they think I might like. NOOOOO! Almost everyone I get (and they amount to most all of my new feeds) I already have - Smart Feeds - NO really dumb feeds. So the only pining I am able to do anymore is from bloggers such as yourself and directly from the internet. I have scrolled down several times and I no longer can see the boards I am following. I hate this! It is like the gov't (Big Brother) has stepped in and said we can only see what they want us to see! This is what success and new ego will do.
I used to get notifications when something changed on Pinterest. NO MORE! And they are totally unresponsive to anything sent to them! Love all of your work Stacey.Thank you for this post and allowing us to vent.
Oh - another comment Stacey. I agree about the pins that I put on and not seeing them. I want to see my own pins!!!! Sometimes I even want to repin something to yet another board. So instead of making my own decision as to what to see that privilege has been taken away from me. LET ME SEE MY OWN PINS AGAIN!!!!
THANK YOU!!!! I wondered why I've been so turned off by pinterest lately. Anymore, I rarely add a new pin unless it is from a search I have made or a website I found content I want to save from. I love seeing what the people I follow have to share, they are the reason I follow them. I have to agree and now it all makes sense!! You are right on cue. I don't know how Pinterest things this is to their advantage. It used to be my favorite method of social media. All my favorite things in one place? Brilliant! But now it's like the adds Facebook thinks I want to see...SO OFF BASE!!!
HATE THE NEW SMART FEED !!!! I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT HAPPENED. I JUST DON'T ENJOY MY INTEREST ANY MORE. SO SAD FOR THE INTEREST "ADDICTED" PLEASE REVIVE OUR OLD PINTEREST
Wow, well said! I loved the original concept of pinterest too when I was in control of pinning and creating my own unique world, but now its all jumbled up with STUFF i have no interest in. Plus, it also continues to push me to follow others by showing me quick glances of their boards without their permission or mine, all thanks to signing in through Facebook.
Social media has no boundaries...my sacred space has been invaded!!!
I appreciate the education on the new Pinterest feed. I have not allowed the new version on my account & wasn't aware of the "Big Brother" changes! Its a shame the changes made aren't positive for all. I have noticed Instagram has allowed several sponsored sites (ads) on my daily feeds. I report them as spam & ask for them to be blocked from my account. All the nonsense on Facebook is the reason I don't use it anymore, but it appears its creeping into other areas.
I will continue to follow you on Pinterest & Instagram.
Thanks for this Stacy! I have not been on Pinterest that much lately, because it just is boring! I didn't spend enough time thinking about why until you've brought this up...I use it on;ly when I need to do research for a project (I'm a costume designer)...and I love the decor pins (how I found you!)..but enough with the ads and the how to's.
I used to love Pinterest and when I looked at the new content, it was beautiful and inspiring because it was all the pins of the people I followed who loved the same types of things. Now it is an ugly mess and and nothing but repeated garbage that I don't want to look at. Very sad. Trust people to make their OWN decisions, Pinterest. I used to go on several times a day and now I visit once or twice a week, max. It is going to disappear or be replaced by another site that will be want Pinterest used to be.
I'm so disappointed! I thought I'd messed up my feed somehow and just about stopped visiting Pinterest after enjoying it for quite a while. What can we do?
I too have been on Pinterest forever. Boy do I miss the old days of discovering fresh ideas, decor, and sites. The Smart Feed has been out for some time now and seems to be getting dumber. I quit looking at my feed a long time ago... shortly after the introduction of Smart Feed. Today I just about fell off my chair. I noticed that for 22 hours... no one had repinned any of my pins!!! Hello? Through some interaction on FB groups I've discovered that others have faced the same thing. Crickets. I think 5 hours later I have another 5 repins, likes, or follows. That's it. On the other hand some bloggers talk about a new "follow" button and getting hundreds of followers in a blink of an eye. That stinks... The first out the door on a great change like that wins... the rest of us... well... crickets.
I've got to say I really do wish for the old days. And I hate the pressure of group boards. I know they are super good for many... but what fun is it to keep repinning your own pins to get views. Ugh. I do it because I have to. So in MHO Pinterest can do away with those.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this all sorts out.
I agree - I cannot stand this new feed feature. I appreciate the explanation as to what happened! I used to enjoy seeing the content of the pinners I elected to follow. But now, I can't seem find anything these days unless I type it into a search; my feed is so clogged with all the suggested pins. I prefer the old method, so much so, that I'm tempted to just give it up.
I have stopped using Pinterest without fully understanding what changes had been made, but I knew they jacked it up. I also agree that I could live with some of the changes except them deciding what I want to see and when ("smart feed"). Game Over for me unless they go back to why we loved them in the first place. I want to see who I follow "real time", without Pinterest "thinking" they know what I like - what a joke! Machines cannot pick up on emotional responses to things!!! I use to love Pinterest and tell all my friends about it. Not any more - so sad! I now look at Instagram because Pinterest is UGLY with stuff I don't like. I will return to Pinterest if they go back to letting us follow who we want & when. PLEASE!
So well explained, Stacy. I have been a hair's breadth from just giving up my addiction to Pinterest. The changes make me furious!!! PINTEREST---wake up. If it ain't broke---don't bloody-well fix it!
I am finding the same thing. It is very discouraging to use Pinterest and I don't pin as much as I used to.
I am disappointed that I am being controlled by what Pinterest thinks i want to see. Actually I want to see everything that is in the feed and if i have something specific I want to look for I will search for it. Please rethink this and change it back.
And the change to the email notifications are terrible also. The "Look who's loving your pins and boards" statement is huge and they took away all the details of the item that was pinned. What a waste of an email message. Hate it.
Thank you so much for the thoughtful explanation. I like my feed to look nice with images I select, and now I try not to even go there because of all the garbage strewn around by Pinterest itself. It selects images for me that I have already pinned, or that went out of style three years ago as you say. Just today I deleted many pins from my boards, then just decided to eliminate boards. I pin things for my own enjoyment and convenience and don't care if anyone resins my selections or not. Pinterest was once bright and fun and enlightening, but now it's kind of shabby, tired, and run down. They sold out and it shows.
Wow. I was wondering why Pinterest was boring me. I would scroll through and nothing exciting. I rarely go to the site unless I am really searching for something specific. I am not very tech savvy, but I could tell something was wrong. Thanks for bringing it to my attention and enlightening me.
Not a fan of the new and 'improved' version of Pinterest. I haven't checked my feed in weeks - I just realized that. I used to check every day or at least every other day. When I check it now it's stuff I've seen before or isn't of interest to me.
I was wondering why I no longer had any interest in Pinterest. All the people I followed were no longer showing up so I stopped spending HOURS on Pinterest. Now I go on Pinterest to look at what I have saved on my boards. Wow can not believe Pinterest is changing something that was working perfectly for me. Let's hope we can go back to the way it was before so many of us totally give up!
Not only do the same stale pins show up again and again, Pinterest even "recommends" pins for me that I have just pinned! Also, old post are showing up regularly. I have one of the most comprehensive boards on garden sheds on Pinterest, and now, regularly, I am getting garden shed pins from a long ways back. Since I kind of recognize some, but am not sure because of the amount of time that has gone by since I pinned, I click to pin them, only to see that I already have. Total waste of time and frustrating.
I am going to Pinterest less and less, except to look at my own boards. Why would I want to site and scroll through, basically, commercials?
Stacy,
I agree with you 100%. This explains why I could not see a recent new pin I made and neither did anyone else. I took a beautiful photo and was hoping others would repin it. Guess I should post it somewhere else if I want it to be seen and I won't bother posting anything else unless it is just for my own use.
Debbie Bruna
Brunadebbie@yahoo.com
I totally echo what you and others have stated. I used to enjoy going to Pinterest, as there was always something new and interesting. Now I am deluged with random sponsored pins promoting things I have no use for!
Frankly, I'm not an Instagram person, so I most likely will hang around for awhile longer.
Thank you for this post and the opportunity to air my growing disappointment for something that used to be fun!
As soon as a company believes they can think for a consumer - they loose them. If they just 'let it rip' people would find a much broader spectrum of subject matter to pin and follow. Ha - and isn't that what Pinterest wants, new uploaded pins, new subjects, current trends.
Here is hoping that the know-it-all team at Pinterest is listening to these comments. Their product is becoming boring.
I very seldom look at my feed anymore, preferring instead to pin from other sources (Tumblr, Instagram, blogs, or FB.) I tend to view only my own profile boards and shared boards, for social purposes. The original Pinterest feed has been lost to me ever since they started planting the 'Suggested for you' pins and ad pins. I tried over and over to block them - to no avail! So I've found my own way to avoid them entirely by not looking at my feed. If Pinterest went away entirely, I'd be just fine without it. What started out at an addictive wonder has turned into a nuisance and bore.
Knew something was 'off' with pinterest thanks for explaining that so clearly. Havent used it much because of the frustration.
I rarely use Pinterest anymore due to the changes. Please reconsider your changes. Thank uou
I wondered why my feed was full of cooking freezer meals!..hundreds of pins for crockpot cooking too. Pins about preparing for an army with your freezer. I follow very few cooks. I follow quilting and décor and flowers for weddings. Maybe one of those topics show up on a page of Ziploc bags of freezer meals. It's insane!
Smart Feed has ruined Pinterest. Many friends have commented that they no longer use it anymore and I understand why.
I KNEW something was different! It's been driving me crazy for all of the reasons you mentioned. So how can we get them to change it back? Give me someone to write to and I will! Thanks! Trey LaFave
I am using it less and less. Not sure what they were thinking changing it this way, it sure is 'broke' now!
I agree with the other comments above. The good news is, I have a lot more time now that I never log on to Pinterest any more....
I've been with Pinterest from almost the beginning. I have always loved it, until recently. My boards are a varied combination of personal likes and business related likes. I carefully try not to overburden my followers with too much "vintage", in other words...I do my best to play fair and have always felt that Pinterest does the same, again until recently.
None of what I see is what I want to see and I truly miss that.
I agree Stacy, I would gladly pay Pinterest to go back to how it used to be.
I checked my Google analytics prior to commenting here and my traffic from Pinterest has dropped from a standing 4th-6th down to 11th.
I might suggest that some try G+ and their Collections option, which is very similar to Pinterest boards. People have the ability to follow your Collections without actually following you, which I believe is a good thing for those who are only interested in certain topics. Also remember, common sense would dictate that Google would rather pull from their own platforms, rather than others, when adding to search.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out with Pinterest. I'm sure we're not the only ones who are unhappy and Pinterest does have past history of keeping their fingers on the pulse of their customers. Lets hope they see the light!
Thanks so much for addressing this topic!
Pinterest offered me Christmas decor pins yesterday! Yikes!
Thank you for explaining this to me. I agree with everyone. I do not see anything new in my home feed. I am now just using it as file folders. I guess I will have to go back to buying cookbooks! I am not a blogger or a business. It was fun for me!
is THAT what happened??? I didn't know what was going on, just that it had changed and more and more junk was creeping in... I can't tell you how many times in the last few days I've looked at pins on my home feed and thought "but I pinned this months ago - why is it here again?" I'm not as patient as you though - I'm sick of seeing the ad pins front and centre - the crotch shots for the tanning spray and the "look I'm going bald, but I have a wonder cure" pins annoy the heck out of me. Even worse is that the few pins I've clicked through link to out of stock or obsolete items, so what's the point in clicking through? How typical. They can't leave a good thing alone. I didn't realize why, but I've noticed more and more that I'm not seeing anything new on Pinterest these days. I'm only on there because it's fun and has been entertaining - I've discovered a lot of great things, the way it used to be set up. If it stops being fun or annoys me, I'm happy to walk away and find something else. It was such a great idea originally - it would be a shame to see them muck it up, but it wouldn't surprise me...
I agree wholeheartedly, I want the control myself!!! Like it was before!
Thank you so much for your informative post. I have been searching for an answer as to what happened specifically today with my home feed. I wrote them today of my frustration with the new smart feed. I could not access the site until I picked my interests! Which is what I've spent the last years carefully doing on Pinterest...selecting and pinning specific categories of topics and interests. The "choose your interests" categories were entirely too broad and now that is all that shows up....I have no desire to see every Healthy Snack or Vintage pin. To help improve my feed, I've gone back and furiously searched for topics/pinners/boards that I had previously been following in hopes that smart feed will get the idea. Truly disgusted and as you stated, insulted that Pinterest thought I needed their help.
Yes, I agree!!! I want to see new content not old outdated things I've pinned in the past and I do want the ability to buy something I see which I can't if it's old and sold out or unavailable! PLEASE PINTEREST - go back to the old way - I hate it when websites keep changing everything (also:Facebook) If it ain't broke don't fix it!!!
I agree, the new "we know better than yourself what you like"-attitude is more than repellent to me! To be honest, I got annoyed already by those earlier changes (promoted pins I think it was) and started to use Pintrest a lot less than I did. And now I just deleted the app and don't have any desire to log back in - Pinterest has turned less than useless to me. It's not fun, not interesting, not even useful anymore. Bahh! Gone it is.
Well I for one am glad to know what happened. It's bad enough when I am on line and go to a store to look at something because I was curious about the product and then have that same product rammed down my throat in the sidebar advertisements 24/7. But it truly upset me when I noticed Pinterest was starting to do the same!
Do they honestly think we have no free will? Do they think we are sheep that will take anything they give to us?
I have to agree with Pam Whimsical Vintage above. The G+ Collections get a lot of looks from people and follow through. I was thinking just the other day "These google folks know how to do things Pinterest Can't" Now I know WHY I was thinking that. I am sorry Pinterest, but if you can't do better for me, you don't need me. I only have new fresh offerings, and apparently you aren't interested in that at all.
This is amazing! I wondered what was going on and why I no longer saw any feeds from people I'm following. Also, the 'recommended' pins were often pins I had just pinned a short time earlier!! I don't have time to get into complicated Pinterest politics and therefore have already switched to Instagram and Tumblr for creative ideas.
I dislike the new format and so enjoyed browsing and pinning in the past...........so much for a good thing "that was"!!
By the way, thank you for explaining all this.....your blog is great!
Thank you so much for this articulate attack on the way Pinterest has lost its way. I only hope that the powers that be see it and realize they've blundered.
Other social media sites have managed to generate revenue without destroying themselves. As you say, there's nothing wrong with Pinterest seeking to make money; what's wrong is the way they're doing it.
Tumblr, for one, has managed to earn money (I don't know how much, or whether it's enough, but they're earning it) without alienating its users. It uses two simple features to avoid annoying its user base. One, it keeps track of who posts what by crediting the original poster (if the poster uses a certain setting) with every subsequent repost (reblog, repin), thus preventing you from seeing your very own posts/pins come back at you. Second, it tells you up front when a post is "sponsored" (that is, an ad). You can look at it or not, but at least you know what you're getting and don't have the unpleasant experience of reading something and then finding out afterwards that it was a commercial.
Pinterest used to be so much fun! Let's bring the fun back!
thank you. It took me forever to find this article. I was upset when my pins disappeared from my homefeed. I could not understand why my home feed had become filled with really old pins I had pinned years ago. I couldn't understand why I wasn't seeing pins of my favorite pinners anymore. The recommended boards are rarely interesting to me. The related pins are rarely of interest to me and usually unrelated to what I just pinned. It really makes me sad they ruined it. Everyday I hope to see new and inspiring pins but I never do. I have to do all sorts of searching just to find something new. When I pinned something I used to see boards from various pinners who had pinned the same pin I just pinned. This was a major why I found new inspiring ideas and people to follow. They got rid of that as well. The people who currently pin from my boards are now frequently spammers I think because frequently someone starts to follow me that doesn't pin anything and doesn't share none of my interests. Many of my 'new followers' have thousands of unrelated pins on disorganized boards. When I don't follow them, they drop me in one or two days. I think it is just a matter of time before I close my account. I learned so much from pinterest but not anymore.
Another thing I hate is large bold typeface , often having nothing to do with the smaller image it accompanies. I have taken to deleting pins with type that detracts from the image
I need more control over what I am seeing in my feed. I have absolutely no interest in child rearing, child birth, breast feeding or parenthood, but I am inundated by these topics, and can't find any way to make it stop.
I'm still upset that no one at Pintrest will get back to me. I have sent multiple messages and have gotten zero response. I only use Pintrest on my iPad and can suddenly no longer move a newly created boards around for better organization. It's like they don't care about its users. I am not overly bothered by the adds, but I want to see my friends pins not what they think I might be interested in. I may just print out important info and delete Pintrest.
Interesting new development: Pinterest has started counting ALL instances of a pinned image as a repin. That is, instead of simply considering it a repin if someone re-pins something directly from you, it counts every time the same image is posted to Pinterest, regardless of where the pinner got it from (another pinner, directly from the site, etc.). I noticed this when some of my pins that a few days ago had only a few repins now have thousands.
Of course, there are limits to this. Image recognition being in its infancy, the software is really looking for the originating URL, not the image itself. That is, if someone pins an image from the South Shore Decorating Blog, and someone else pins the same image from the House Beautiful site, Pinterest won't recognize them as the same. This means that an image you posted yourself may not come back at you on your dashboard, but if someone else posted the same image from a different site, you may see it anyway.
My interest in this is that I often post pins that I put together in Photoshop: several views of the same object or scene. I put a lot of work into them, and feel I deserve credit for putting them together. Theoretically, this new repin policy should take care of this, but it doesn't: there's no way that someone can see who ORIGINALLY posted the image. Besides, if people are used to seeing thousands of repins credited to everyone who posts the same image, it means nothing--everyone gets credit for one person's work.
I read somewhere that Pinterest is planning to go public later this year. We can expect to see everything they do now geared towards maximizing their IPO.
I found you by Googling about the stale Pinterest feed I have been experiencing. (April 2016) I really miss seeing the pins of the boards I chose to follow. The suggested pins tend to be quite uninteresting to me in general. The advertised items are annoying, but I "get" that some money needs to be generated.
I still use Pinterest, but I find I need to search using terms rather than relying on my feed.
I chose to follow boards and pinners for a reason and am very disappointed that I am not seeing those pins.
I also miss being able to edit the main picture for my boards using my iPad.
Thank you for addressing this! I agree with other commenters about now not losing so much time to Pinterest because seeing the same pins over and over isn't interesting and I just leave--so maybe it is a good thing in the end!
I also have let Piniterest know that I don't mind the ads but really don't like the change from showing me my pins and the all the pins of the people I chose to follow.
I do sometimes decde to pin the picked for you pins but am so annoyed when the pssst you've already saved this message comes up. It seems so rude! I can't believe that their algorithm can't eliminate the pins I've already saved.
I agree with you and everyone else who has commented that Pinterest isn't as much fun as it used to be.
I ageer. I motief the difference and I am not happy with iT. I hope Pinterest Will soon resetten this
Dear Pinterest,
I thought we were going to be BFFs and grow old together but now you've gone and spoilt it. I would visit you several times a day with a joyful enthusiasm to see what was new and what delightful things other linnets were sharing. Now I all I see is virtual tumbleweed and hear are crickets. My feed is dreary with old pins, pins I have seen a million times before and no sense of a pinners personality. Please read the article and put the interest into Pinterest. I too will walk away and seek my content elsewhere.
You got it 100% correct. All I'm seeing is old stuff that I've already got. Nothing new, which is what I thought would happen, what I would look forward to. Started off as nice little idea! But now......!!!! And like a previous comment said, "Thank you for curing my Pinterest addiction". It was/is becoming quite boring!
I hate the way it is now. I avoid my news feed now and have been on Pintrist less and less everyday since the changes. As to before it was my favorite past time. I'm falling out of love.
Thanks for posting this. Their smart feed doesn't work for me either. It's useless to me and I don't even look at it. Pinterest has taken the fun out of seeing and knowing when a pin is popular because of the repins I get. Shame on them because the changes have made it more difficult than ever to use and far less interesting.
I loved Pinterest when I found it. Now I cannot change board covers, cannot access it on my IPad, and like you do not want pins picked for me. Hopefully they will realize that when it "ain't broke" you don't need to fix or change it. 💔
Yes, I too agree with what you have said about the changes pintrest has made. I do not like them and it is so frustrating to see the same things over and over again. I have also noticed that when someone pins something of your that you could click on their picture to see their page and decide if you wanted to follow them, but you can no longer do that either. Why must people always change a good thing. I sure hope pintrest is smart enough to listen to all the people that have made this site what it is.
Yes, I too agree with what you have said about the changes pintrest has made. I do not like them and it is so frustrating to see the same things over and over again. I have also noticed that when someone pins something of your that you could click on their picture to see their page and decide if you wanted to follow them, but you can no longer do that either. Why must people always change a good thing. I sure hope pintrest is smart enough to listen to all the people that have made this site what it is.
Yes I feel the same way... All I see is old things.. Im not a fan of the new smart feed at all..
I agree with how you described the change. You put words to what I could not . Thank you. I hope Pinterest listens!
This has nailed it right. These changes do not make me happy. I even contacted Pinterest and that was a big error on my part. It got nowhere except to say they would take it back to the 'team'. I have waited every day hoping they would go back to the way we loved it originally. Sure hasn't happened.
Pretty much the same as everyone here. I want the old Pinterest back!
I have commented to Pinterest that the stuff theyre picking for me is greusome and should come with a viewers warning. I will pin some things and the next day they have been picked for me!? Really? I also dont care to see ads either, i will go back to buying magazines!
So that's what happened. I knew I was getting old content, and not pins from boards I follow. I also realized a couple of weeks ago that Pinterest was getting boring. I agree - I wish it would revert to its former format. I'm googling and searching Instagram more than Pinterest now.
Thanks for explaining what has been happening on Pinterest! I hate it!
I totally agree with all the comments and I am also less motivated to go onto Pinterest and may stop soon. I enjoy my personal boards for projects (I am moving house soon) but I am frustrated not to see the pins of people I follow and they not to see mine. I also feel deflated that I cannot see who has repinned my pins and how often. I love making boards but I also got a lot of pleasure when I saw people liked my own pins. Particularly if it was a favourite pin of mine - I felt a connection and had built up a few pin friends with shared taste. Now it all feels impersonal and I don't feel part of it, just of some use to data collectors.
Of course the commercial side had to come but surely we can have both ?
I knew something had changed and wondered why I wasnt seeing the pins of those I follow. I do not like all the useless puns I am receiving. Hope Pinterest goes back to its former system.
The changes they've made have greatly diluted the experience and mean that the last three years, spending hours and hours creating a visual 'identity' in cyber space have been practically wasted. While my boards remain an inspiring visual reference for my own use, I originally signed up to get followers in preparation for marketing my website (still not developed because I've spent so much time on Pinterest!. Now I'm close to doing the website, it seems that Pinterest is no longer likely to drive traffic to my site. A very big disappointment and an indication that Pinterest has no understanding of users' feelings. I would readily pay a monthly membership fee for Pinterest if they would return it to its original format.
I agree with you all, I hate the new format on iPhone, my repins and followers are way down and I hardly ever see any pins from the pinners I follow. This used to be a really fun hobby but it's getting increasingly frustrating! I have heard other pinners suggesting we should pay a small fee to keep Pinterest as it was and I would certainly be willing to pay for that!
I had noticed lately that most of the pins on my feed were ads or 'picked for you' instead of things I had already chosen as my interest. My time on Pintrest has reduced dramatically because of these things... if I'm not seeing things that I'm interested in, then why bother?
I hate the Smart Feed. I have limited time to scroll Pinterest and if I marked a user or a board is because I want to be updated about it, not any crap coming from my cookie or my last addition.
It's not paternalistic, it's business fascism, IMO
I don't like what Pinterest has become. I have made all my boards private and rarely check the community feed I have no interest in who pins who who likes who. You have no control over anything you see now. Pinterest is becoming a vehicle for freaks prostitution and perverts. And forget about seeking to purchase anything it's a waste of time. Sites no longer exists sites filled with ads and spam. My corporation use to promote their employees use in the office. My corporation has 50,000 employees.
Because of nudity freaks and the like we are now blocked from using. They basically have given up control of their content. Why would I want to view crotches butt cracks and the like next to my cookie recipes. HEY Pinterest create a site for the pervs that's where you can make your money connecting the international freak community, so they can drool over each other's butt cracks. Pitiful Pinterest Pitiful
I don't like what Pinterest has become. I have made all my boards private and rarely check the community feed I have no interest in who pins who who likes who. You have no control over anything you see now. Pinterest is becoming a vehicle for freaks prostitution and perverts. And forget about seeking to purchase anything it's a waste of time. Sites no longer exists sites filled with ads and spam. My corporation use to promote their employees use in the office. My corporation has 50,000 employees.
Because of nudity freaks and the like we are now blocked from using. They basically have given up control of their content. Why would I want to view crotches butt cracks and the like next to my cookie recipes. HEY Pinterest create a site for the pervs that's where you can make your money connecting the international freak community, so they can drool over each other's butt cracks. Pitiful Pinterest Pitiful
I am so tired of seeing the same old content on interest. I don't like the fact the boards I follow are not showing me their pins including yours. Very frustrated!!
Almost all of my feed is "picked for you", I can't even see the things my friends are pinning anymore. I always used their pins as sort of a gift guide for things they were interested in. If I scroll down mor than about 4 lines it is just picked for me stuff and its rarely anything I'm interested in. Showing my booty shorts when I am well past the age I would ever wear them. Its frustrating
Pinterest has fallen a great way down. I've loved it because I had the ability to only see what *I* wanted to see. Everywhere I looked everything was tailored to middle of the road. With Pinterest I could avoid seeing that I absolutely don't want to see. Now, my feed is high jacked and Pinterest is picking things for me that are precisely what I've been avoiding! Just about every pin is someone else's idea of what I should see. So like someone said; my Pinterest habit is being cured. They've broken everything that made it useful and different from other sites. Huge disappointment.
I loved your article! It was thorough, informative and an excellent read. I am hugely unhappy with the new Pinterest. I've been a member for about 3 years and have seen many changes along the way. Most of them have been unsatisfactory. From one day to the next, you don't know what to expect. And the difference between Pinterest on the Cell phone and computer is like night and day. I refuse to go on Pinterest on my phone any more. I enjoyed Pinterest when it was simple, fun, a trusted community and I could spend hours occupying myself with ideas. Even meeting new friends! It has evolved into something almost sinister at times. There's more porn, more unsavory users and unsavory pins to go with those users. You have to be very careful on Pinterest now, you don't know where a pin will take you. Thank you again for taking the time to be a voice for a huge community of Pinterest addicts!
I had been wondering about the lack of new content. I thought it was me. I can only revisit the same pins so many times. I can't figure out how I'm supposed to have it give me something new. I'm sick of looking at suntan ads. But like the rest of you I'm visiting it less and less and using just my already created boards. I'm enjoying flip board and home talk now more often.
Thank you very much for the explanation. I did not have any idea what the problem was. I am following about 435 other piners yet I only see about 30 new pins a day. I don't know is this is the new feed or if people are no longer pining. As you said, most of the new changes do not bother me but this one change is very irritating.
Every time I log in I see the EXACT SAME PINS. Every. Time. What's the use in that?? I just don't scroll anymore. If I can't see the people, companies and boards I like, what use are you Pinterest? My own analytics have tanked - and no, I am not buying ads. I have moved on to Instagram. So much easier to get brand new, up to the minute info there.
I'm so glad you posted this! I really hate the changes too!!! I feel like the only way for me to see the boards of the people I've chosen to follow is to look them up by name and then look at their most recent pins. I almost never just look at the feed that Pinterest provides when you open the site. I feel like the pins are repeated ad nauseum. They've got to make a change to this or I will lost interest in coming to Pinterest for new ideas.
I follow people and boards because I want to see what they are posting. I rarely see more than a handful of pins from these people but nearly a third of my board is taken up by Promoted pins or picked for me pins. The fun part of Pinterest is finding your own pins. I don't want someone deciding what I see.
Pinterest isn't as enjoyable to me as it was orginally. The old pins and constant repeats are boring. Also I don't need to have my pins chosen for me. I'm spending less time on Pinterest now, it's like been there ' seen that. Why "fix" something that wasn't broke-"new" doesn't always mean "better". Bring back "old" Pinterest. "Thank you".
You are so right. I'm losing interest in the whole thing. Thanks for your input!
I started out loving Pinterest but find it disorganized and cluttered looking. I don't like my home page and the way it's set up. I'm not getting the same content in my feed like I used to. In fact, I am getting X-rated items in my feed and I don't even follow the people who post them! It's insulting and boring at the same time!
I have been on Pinterest for years but like many others I rarely use it anymore since they have ruined it with the promoted pins and picked for you pins.They don't seem to care about users anymore.You would think that they have probably noticed that people aren't using it anymore but they just don't seem to care.I don't see how they can continue like this.I think they will continue to lose users until it has to shut down.
Richard Geiger
I now go to my "followers" and click to see their recent pins and go from there so that often they can see that I am interested in their lives, creativity, and new pins...I now disregard Pinterest's repeated pins selected just for you...current Pinterest formats and lack of what was a sight to eagerly sign onto is burdonsome and I delete advertising sites DAILY!!
It's very frustrating...losing interest..
Comments from a pinner with over 7000 folowers and nearly 100K pins!! :-((
I'm fairly new to Pinterest so I haven't experienced the old feed and how it worked, but as a new user, I can say, I am seeing the same pins all the time. I'm also a artist and designer and I am pinning my new designs every day and nobody is seeing them. With over 1200 followers, I am lucky to get one re-pin, or one like. It is becoming obvious that Pinterest is not worth the effort. I also have an issue with their paid pins, since I am not in the USA, I can not even buy a boost for my pins. This platform is world wide, with users from all over the planet, but I'm being discriminated against. My boards are not just for my designs, I have a large range of boards with all my personal interests, so not on the site just for self promotion, but it's becoming a waste of time if I can't see new things. I have family members using this site too and they have noticed the popularity contest with the same pins being shown also and are not happy with it.
The new Pinterest is AWFUL. I completely agree with you. I SPENT MONTHS ORGANIZING MY BOARDS to help sell m Buddhas. I was about to Buy BUY pins. Now my boards are an embarrassing mess. I can't organize them according to my priorities. I can't find boards quickly. It all looks embarrassingly messy. Not how I want my business to look. I am considering going to Instagram also but sad and upset because before Pinterest was a perfect tool. Now unusable.
Even you lost me with the lengthy explanation, but I do agree that the changes are not good. They have been so disappointing. However I've always wondered when profitability would rear its ugly head. It was all so simple and fun, with the ability to comment and share. Surely Pinterest can pull back from some of these changes. But most comments I hear are that folks are losing interest (spelled with a P).
I agree with your sentiment as well as your reasoning. Pinterest has sucked the joy and fun out of using it. Why they have taken this approach I have no idea. It's like taking the steering wheel off a car making it useless.
Thank you for posting this. I will not repeat everyone's thoughts that I most definitely share and totally agree with. I will say though, I have made so many special Pinterest friends over the 3 yr.s that I have participated on Pinterest and even that aspect has changed due to all of these changes. We can not see each others comments anymore. I need to figure out a way to save my Pinterest page on to my tablet in order to save all the amazing recipes I've collected over the last 3 yr.s, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated ✌ Thank you ...
I don't have a business or a blog I'm trying to direct traffic too, I just lived Pinterest for inspiration. I hate my home feed too, it is boring and outdated. I often find myself going directly into boards in following to look at content, but to be honest, more often than not, I now head to Instagram. Hope they change it back, but now being more about business like Facebook , I won't hold my breath.
I strongly agree with everything that was said in this post. I keep following people and boards trying desperately to get more content and it's of no use with this new sytstem! I love Pinterest, I have used it every day for years now and but just as the author said I'm finding myself more and more drawn to Instagram-even though I think it's sub-par compared to the original Pinterest.
I'm also very unhappy with the new way of counting repins- I want to know how many people have re-pinned it from my page, not how many have repinned at the time I pin it. I already had that information, why would I need it twice?
Thanks for the explanation, Stacy. I've long believed that Pinterest is running off the rails, adding and subtracting things just for the hell of it - fixing what doesn't need fixing - tinkering for tinkering's sake. They have just about ruined a once great site based on a great idea, a site that was once simple and efficient to use. But could they leave well enough alone? Nope.
I use Pinterest now just for storing my own pix of things that interest me and I pay no attention to who is following, who I should follow or who is doing what to whom. I also rarely pin from other pinners anymore. I hate the new way of counting repins. I mean, I want to know who is repinning MY PINS, not how many times the damn pin has been pinned overall. Why do I need that information? And what about new content? Where is it? When I pin something I want it showing on my feed. I also DO NOT want pin recommendations. I have NEVER pinned a recommended pin. There is no way Pinterest knows what I like. They think they do but they don't.
The site is just for storage now, far as I'm concerned. And don't get me started on the ads. And really, I could put up with them if everything else had stayed the same.
And one last question which has always bothered me - why can't I delete a follower plain and simple? I have lots of spam type followers that I would love simply to erase but no I have to report them and go through a whole rigamarole and then they still show up. I've given up doing this and just allow spam - one of the main reasons I no longer bother checking followers.
As I said, I now just use Pinterest for personal storage.
So that is what it's called...Smart feed. Yes I hate it. I might be researching some things for a project for a day or two but then Smart Feed keeps posting on it forever thus reducing what else I might be exposed to. It is patronizing and I find I am enjoying viewing P
interest less and less. Unlike you I hate the ads especially when I think I'm about to open an interesting post on a DIY only to find it's really and advertisement. It happens countless times now and it's annoying. All these new advertising additions has made it so I see less and less of the pins of people I'm following. That is the same BS that Facebook pulled and why I use them hardly at all.
Thanks for explaining why I have become soo frustrated with Pinterest lately. The other night I had 3 promoted, 4picked for you and 3pins from people I followed on one page in my feed. If they insist on changing your feed at least give you the option to opt out. Finding myself spending less and less time using it. Too bad they had to ruin a great thing.
Omg, this post says EVERYTHING I have been thinking ever since Pinterest changed! I hate the way it is now!! It makes no sense to me that I am following people and I NEVER see their posts anymore. The point of following them is TO see their stuff. PLEASE,PLEASE, PLEASE PINTEREST CHANGE PINTEREST BACK TO THE USER FRIENDLY SITE WE FELL IN LOVE WITH.
I am not one to normally leave a comment...but here goes! I really dislike, even hate, the new Pinterest. I agree with what you've written, except now my boards are no longer in alphabetical order like I placed them. They show up in order of the last one I pinned to and how many pins I have on them. This makes it hard for me to find the things I am looking for on my own boards! I thought the whole idea of Pinterest was for individuals to be able to organize the things WE like-the way WE want. I feel as though the powers that be have totally ignored the users (us) in these changes. I am also sick of seeing things picked for me that I have already pinned or have zero interest in. I have no way of contacting Pinterest to register my feelings or complaints. I know they have a Facebook page but I refuse to use Facebook.
Bravo!!👏👏👏!! You said it! I am extremely frustrated by not seeing my own chosen feed! I'm here to see new things. I want to be inspired. I find I'm seeing all the same stuff over and over again and am routinely bored by the monotony of the repietitious "smart feed" . Can you hear me NOW?!?!?
I absolutely agree with you....I truly dislike the "smart feed".
You have stated the concerns of many dissatisfied Pinterest users in this blog statement. I hope the Pinterest customer service team is listening. However, I'm beginning to believe that Pinterest does not believe in delivering or practicing good customer service but has fallen to only the effects of $$$$ which is a sad state of affairs.
Pleas consider bringing back the "old" Pinterest that was loved by so many!
I just have to say that I have lost interest in Pinterest for the most part because I use it to come up with new ideas for crafting, clothing styles etc. All to often I see the same thing that I saw the last time I was on the site.... what is the point? It's really disappointing.
I totally agree with all your points. Why oh why do they have to change something that was working great and was the whole point of Pinterest.
Bring back the original.
I kept trying to find an outlet for my frustration with Pinterest smartfeed or dumbfeed as the case may be. I found you and glad I did. I have been an avid user for years, and now not so much bc it is not fun anymore. I want to see pins of the pinfriends that I follow. I chose them and their boards for their unique approach. I do not need Pinterest telling me what to see, pin, buy. Please go back to the original feed bc I'm bored with the same old pins and pins I have already. Don't ruin my one hour of originality in the day!
Thank you for posting this. I am infuriated by the changes in Pinterest especially my feed being full of pins picked for me, most of which I would never choose myself! I used to love changing my board covers frequently to keep my page looking fresh but the facility to do so has been removed in the app and when I try to do it on my laptop it is either frustratingly slow or just doesn't work hence I am rapidly losing interest in the whole site. I have attempted to contact Pinterest about this but just got a response saying " this is no longer possible in the app". - well, why not? What possible reason was there to change it? Very disappointed in the whole thing now- old pins repeating all the time, all very uninspiring and I started on Pinterest to find inspiration...
Ah, now it makes sense..! I too have been using it less, at least from the feed, mainly pinning from outside sources. I agree with almost EVERY comment here, I suspect everyone reading it is nodding vigorously in agreement; that's pretty rare for any comment thread, surely?..now, if THAT doesn't tell you what is wrong, PINTEREST...nothing will..! PLEASE take notice of this or you lose us all...what then..? It is part & parcel of many unwelcome changes at what was a Wonderful site to visit, a pleasure to use; I am not a fan of much of social media but I used to love Pinterest. I recently said to a friend on P, I feel like telling them to shove it for all the meddling! (Never thought I'd say That...proud P Addict as I was.) I recently lost ALL my Comments - at least the ability to see them ON the BOARD - no Comments are visible to me, anywhere on P, unless I click the pin to see them. This is a nonsense! Am I expected to just 'know' if a pin has comments on it, or click every one to find out? I added info to my own, to products, & thoughts of my own about the subject, esp. on boards that were important to me such as Feminism..I had lots of interactions like this..in fact ALL my P Friends were met like this, people who have become very important to me, that I otherwise never would have known. Pinterest...this stuff MATTERS to us, please LISTEN..!
I think it is very annoying, Not even half the fun. I miss seing pins from people I enjoyed to follow. My daughters lived Pinterst they do not even go there anymore, If I pin a picture of a beach on my Been there beach all of a suden tons of beach pictures come up. By the way I get way less followers than I used to. And that was kind of fun too. I still enjoy using Piterest to pin contents and products of other websites on my secret board to remember the product and keep the link.
No one has addressed the issue of unwanted pornography content on their Pinterest feed. How could Pinterest "think" a 70 year old Grandmother would be interested in being assaulted with nude, disgusting photos of indecent men and women? What's next? Child porn? I find my news feed utterly depressing. It had been hijacked with animal gore, porn and images of people inflicting great bodily harm on others in the most graphic, nauseating ways imaginable. I want a feed that is inhabited by my followers...
The inanity of my feed has led me to try to game the algorithms by following the first new pin out two steps into an unknown pinners board and to the new pinner's other boards. Taking the key words in the order I find them on new pins and plugging that into search has also been productive. It's a shame the changes that have been wrought but. Would that Pinterest would give us a couple of other options in the "I don't want to see this" fields: a "hate this" and a "Don't ever show this pin to me ever again" buttons
Yes, the " New Pinterest" is terrible. I never see things from people I follow...which totally defeats the purpose! I hate the feed & ridiculous recommended Pins. When it first started I even contacted customer service . All I recieved back was a " we're sorry & working on it email" Which to this day its just as bad as it was if not worse! Instead of being fun now its just aggravating! 😩
Yesterday my whole Pinterest site changed. I have talked to other members and they say they have not experienced what I have. On my home site where my boards are instead of being about 7 across and about 25 down. They are now one big board across at a time (I think I have 125boards) across the entire page. All my boards are mixed up. When I went to my page of the boards that I am following it is just as bad. The boards have titles but do not have the name of the pinner. My face page is full of white in between all of the pictures. White is glaring, very hard on the eyes. Put my boards back the way they were. Then there is all that picked for you filling up my board. I thought the whole point to Pinterest was the as the name states finding interest and pinning them. Saying I seriously do not like this would be to kind. Many Strong words of negativity would apply here. Please fix this. Pinterest is not fun any more. Thank you for your time.
I have the same issues as you and many commenters here. I'm tired of seeing the same "popular" pins picked for me day after day, when I've either already passed them over or pinned them to one of my boards (so stop showing it to me already--if I never see another pink sand beach or castle atop a needle-like rock it will be too soon!).
I hate it when I go to the boards of people I have chosen to follow (carefully, I might add) and I see pin after pin that I like but never showed up in my feed. Now I have to keep a list of my favorite pinners and remember to go through their boards periodically to find content that should be in my daily feed!
And while I'm at it, what's with all the pinners who have, like, 17 pins and 40K followers??? How does that happen? I have more than 15,000 pins and I'm still under 400 followers.
All of this makes me use Pinterest for a hobby, to collect recipes and find relaxing or inspiring images and quotes. But I have yet to use it for my work, because the algorithm is just too insanely bad. It's worse than the FB algorithm, and that was one of the reasons I put my account on hold there nearly two years ago.
I really don't understand the purpose of following people with Pinterest. I can scroll through nearly 100 pins sometimes before I find one from someone I actually follow. I get a handful of good pins from those suggested by Pinterest, but not enough to justify their hijacking my board. Like you said, why not add the "Picked for you" pins to pins from the people we're following, not INSTEAD of them.
I'm posting anonymously, because the only time I ever wrote to CS at Pinterest about my feed not refreshing or refreshing out of the blue while I was scrolling through my feed (causing me to lose my place), my account didn't work right for about a week afterward. Someone had definitely messed with it, although thankfully it went back to working properly soon after.
I just don't know... sometimes I love my boards, but sometimes it feels like this platform is run by a bunch of middle school kids. Thanks for the opportunity to rant! Like you, I can put up with a bunch of other changes, but this one is really bothersome!
One positive feedback is pinterest telling me where something I PINNED was if I was duplicating, but then, they suggest things I already have pinned. Crazy, don't you think... like a two edged sword. 😕
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE PINTEREST, GO BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS. WHAT YOU HAVE DONE IS SUCH A DISAPPOINTMENT !
Agreed! I hope Pinterest listens to the feedback. The feed in actually not intuitive at all. For example, I am getting ads popping up for Trump, and let's just say, I'm not a fan.
I am an avid user of Pinterest. I wondered what happened when my feed no longer showed my pins with my name. I liked seeing what I had pinned. Also, I have a problems with the search bar. When I type what I want to see into the space, I no longer have the option of going to other people's Boards. Why is this? This is where I met fellow pinners and made friends. I was hoping something was WRONG with Pinterest and that it would change back. I also was disappointed when the heavy typing was made unavailable to erase. If I need the site, I will go to it! If I don't please just let me pin the pin and keep my boards neat and organized. No, I'm NOT a fan of changes that have happened in the last 6 months. I would love to see Pinterest go back to being normal.
I completely agree. Suggested pins are often so far off the mark, and irritate me so much that I'm scrolling through my feed much less. I don't like the adverts but I understand the need for them, so I accept them. But the suggested pins are pointless and irritating, and I'd be so happy to see them removed.
What happened to Pinterest overnight ????? As if the recent changes weren't bad enough I just went on to find everything completely different and unrecognisable !!! A visual nightmare , boards all displayed horrendously , a mass of images instead of the covers with a few thumbnail images. Quite honestly it has put me off completely and I am really sad and extremely frustrated that something I have loved immersing myself in for creative inspiration has changed beyond recognition. I miss seeing what the people I follow, many of whom I have communicated with , are pinning . Is there anything we can do about this? I tried to post these comments in the app review but it won't let me. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE RETURN PINTEREST TO THE OLD FORMAT WHICH WE ALL LOVED AND WHICH PROVIDED US WITH A SENSE OF COMMUNITY ALL OVER THE WORLD INSTEAD OF THIS IMPERSONAL, AUTOMATED, STERILE WHICH IS A VERY POOR SUBSTITUTE AND WILL NO DOUBT RESULT IN MANY PEOPLE LEAVING PINTEREST .
Thank you for this post! Now I know why I'm seeing pins over and over that I had previously clicked but decided not to repin. This is what's most annoying to me now. If I didn't repin it the first time, it's not likely that I'll do so the second, third, or fourth time Pinterest decides to display it to me. It's one of many flaws either in the technology or even worse, the new company strategy.
Wow! I was do surprised when you didn't mention some
of the greatest, recent, dissappointing aspects many of us
experience with our beloved Pinterest.
1) The look of my mobile feed changed dramatically about three months ago.
one day I woke up, and the page was changed from the familiar alphabetized
grid- (alphabetizing of my content has been an important, on-going,
arduous process...... and I've continued/ undertaken the Herculean effort to
keep it alphabetized bc the functionality of that organization
has utility and is expedient for me) to a long, scrolling column that is no longer
alphabetized. When thst happened, I truly considered abandoning my beloved, beloved Pinterest.
2) On the topic of alphabetized: Millions of us are begging for a way to auto-alphabetize
our boards. Yet this plea continues to be ignored.please consider that this is an aspect
we all want and put efforts into developing it for us.
Thank you for the explaining what it was I was seeing. I am in total agreement that the "new" way is not my way. I really noticed it when I was on my iPhone and saw it the "new" way and but on my laptop I view things this original way. I do not spend as much time looking At Pinterest any more as I'm tired of seeing the same things again and again. Or things I really am not interested in but someone/thing thinks I am. I want to see what the people I'm following are pinning. Not what you want me to see. I do not buy anything off of Pinterest. I use(d) it for my crafting ideas. Please return to the original way.
I am a Pintest addict. There, I said it! I am in total agreement with all that you have stated!! As of now, I'm not on Pinterest for business, but for PURE ENJOYMENT!! I'm not enjoying it so much lately because of their changes.
1. I DO like to see my pins show up in my feed. I don't like to see what Pinterest thinksI would like and then it turns out I have already pinned
it!
2. I want to see all of the pins of my Pinterest peeps, NOT what Pinterest THINKS I want to see. If I see one more pin of the embroidered
dress (the BOHO look) I'm going to scream!!
3. Rarely am I on Pinterest to buy something, I am looking for ideas, inspirations, information!
4. If I pin something, then I DO NOT want 100 other pins that are similar to that pin, to automatically show up in my feed!!!! That really is very
annoying !!!
5. I have to say that I DO like the occasional pop-up that says I might like these boards relating to a board that I have, I have, from time to
time looked at the suggested boards.
6. I was not aware of all of the other changes Pinterest made simply because I am not involved in Pinterest in that way.
7. The advertising needs to calm down! It is NOT going to make me buy their product and only serves to affect me negatively!!!
8. I am very glad that this PIN was sent to me by one of my Pinterest peeps! These changes have been annoying me for a while now and
I didn't know the best way to go about letting some one know that I was not happy with Pinterest!!
9. I seriously hope that my comments and thoughts will help bring about a change for the better!
I am a "user" only - I do not have a blog or sell anything. I was delighted to find Pinterest some years ago, as it was a great (not perfect) way to save things from around the web that I am interested in.
I was pleased when I discovered that I could follow boards where other people pinned things that might be of interest to me, because just looking at all recent pins was a waste of time - I have no interest in nail art or wedding dresses. I found a lot of new information by following a range of boards, that I would not have thought to search for, so that was useful and interesting. Then I seemed to be seeing the same pins over and over again, which was pretty annoying. It is still annoying, and now I am seeing umpteen copies of the same promoted pins, none of which have anything much to do with my interests.
One thing I personally like, though currently do not use much, is the related pins shown below a pin you look at. Again, I have found some new stuff that way, and it is not an obtrusive feature, so I don't have to pay attention unless I wish to.
But the thing which really annoys me is the ordering of pins. I HATE having my home feed reordered, so I can never tell if I have seen all the new pins from boards I am following. I cannot understand why so many web/social businesses are doing this - Facebook is one of the worst offenders - and it is reducing my interest in looking at pins other than my own.
Absolutely right on. Thanks. I get so tired of being recommended pins I have already pinned. I too wish they would just leave it alone, it was fine the way it was. Plus all these changed are confusing.
Yes..... I just noticed yesterday that one of my board covers was not what I had chosen. It was not even a pin from my board. When I tried to choose my own cover from my pins , I found that I no longer have that option using my I Pad.....Why????What is the point of removing that option we've always had ?....very frustrating..not the relaxing hobby it once was.
I couldn't agree more, ive really lost it with pinterest lately. I get that its showing me things im interested in but im not interested in fake tan or Tesco so why show me ads every 3 or 4 pins?? makes me mad and I have stopped using it so much. come one pinterest get it together!
I agree totally!
I've been pinning since they were beta and you needed to be invited to join. That said, this new feed is awful, takes all the fun out of "wasting time" browsing. On a positive note... it's cured my Pinterest addiction right quick!
Thanks for giving us to chance to weigh in.
Sherribells
Thanks for the explanation. I especially do not like the way my pins are now organized. I find it much more challenging to find what I am looking for. I find myself using it less and less. Anyone know any similar sites to try out there?
I have been happily pinning for four years. Recently, I noticed that most of my 225+ boards have been inundated with pins that I did not put there! Most of these foreign pins seem to reflect the general theme of the board they are on but are certainly not appealing to my particular taste. I loved looking at my boards just for my own personal contentment. Now these boards don't even look like they are mine.
I have spent hours and hours removing hundreds of pins from each of the boards. I hadn't noticed because many are deep seated into the middle. I rarely wander back that far when I am just performing a casual review.
This feels like such an intrusion into my personal space. Does anyone know or understand how these unwanted additions could be attaching to my boards? For those who have not noticed, I suggest that you take an extended inventory of your pins. I sincerely hope that none of you have experienced this dilemma as well. It is so sad and has definitely soured my feelings towards Pinterest.
I even noticed that when searching for things such as recipe's or specific jewelry styles, it just brings up about three or four things and then nothing else. I cannot stand it!! I hope they see this and realize they have a huge problem on their hands... Ridiculous. As I saw someone else write, don't fix it if it isn't broken!!! ):
Thank you for explaining what happened and why I can't see the people I follow, I don't enjoy Pinterest.com like I used to and see the same old stuff over and over.
Yup ! Just not the same, not satisfying. Not near as much time spent there.
I have been irritated lately when in Pinterest because I never get anything new. Now I know why. Smarted--WRONG. Please stop this process. Additionally, I get tired of seeing all the promotions and advertisements. If I want furniture, I will google it. Stop with all the advertising.
Following a comment by someone above, I clicked on one of the 'picked for xx board' pins, Xed it, and clicked that I did not want to see promoted pins. Huh! It took tow or three days of clicking on every promoted pin and again saying that I do not want to see promoted pins before they finally (I hope) have all disappeared. But the result is brilliant! Now my pinterest looks the way it used to! Just pins from boards I follow!
Thank you so much for posting this. #1 because I now understand why Pinterest has, and excuse the language, turned to crap. I wondered why there was so much really old content of mine resurfacing. This is embarrassing because my style and designs have changed dramatically and I will now delete all my old boards to avoid embarrassment. I only follow people whose work, products and boards I really like an I am highly insulted that Pinterest thinks their algorithms can make better choices. Like you, I too would be happy to pay for advertising but not on this new format. I 100% agree with you. I am now seriously considering opting out shame Pinterest shame.
To add insult to injury, this morning I open Pinterest and straight away find as "Picked for you" not one but two of my designs (and just a few post apart). At least they were "current" one from May and the other from last year. Really? Also several fourth time repeated posts ( from the past week) from a lady I follow...what? and if I get one more cute kitten I WILL SCREAM....a board I created to put a smile on my face....good on you Pinterest ...you have ruined that. Yep you really are doing well at picking what I like.
What I've LOVED about Pinterest before they started to "find" pins for me or for my boards was the pleasure of DISCOVERING the pins I liked MYSELF. That is so satisfying, and sometimes discovering something new--that I didn't know I liked-, I despise pins vein provided to me based on previous choices. It feels controlling and intrusive and takes away the thrill of the hunt. Wish I could stop it, but can't even though I blocked that feature in the settings.
They need to stop changing Pinterest and just clean it up it has become a backdoor to sick individuals and porn, so they need to stop changing things around , get a real help center . And bring back the original Pinterest. And they need to enforce their own rules .
I totally agree and support your comments. Although relatively on the site; I am finding any changes they make is getting worst and worst for the pinner.
What has bugged me most about the terrible new format is that when you try to look over your boards or the boards of another user, they are no longer laid out in a convenient grid. You have to scroll through the recent activity of each and every board in order to find what they might have available. I might be really interested in a board about English language trivia, but if I have to scroll through basket weaving, flower arranging, Russian war photos, and surgical techniques before I find that board, then it stops being worth the search.
My frustrations exactly!
I loved Pinterest because it opened up a world of new ideas for me now I just get shown the same old stuff or similiar stuff that is not actually what I like. I have to search really hard for new and different things. Before it was like travelling along a thousand arterial roads to places I'd never been and now its like being stuck on the Freeway.
My freedom to choose content has been so diminished that I was asking my older teen daughter about different platforms and she has suggested I get Instagram.
I totally agree with you. I miss being able to see the pinners I follow. It's like it's telling me what I want to see, but they're wrong. They really screwed this up. I don't know if I'll keep pinning.
I discovered Pinterest during a very bad winter. It has expanded my horizons and helped me home my writing and photographic skills. However, they need to listen to us, the pinners, and restore the original Pintetest. I also am finding old pins; I cannot take a whimsical tour; it is very frustrating.
I'm fed up with Pinterest. I think I am over it. Today I asked Pinterest Help what happened to the pin dates on my pins.. The response was "The date feature is no longer something that is shown on your Pins with the new update. You can still see how many repins that pin has, but not the date." now why in the world would they do that? One board I created when I started Pinterest 4 years ago was of movies I watched, and it was nice to have the date (or at least the approximate date). Plus I just like dates on my pins. I really dislike the new profile, the new feeds, almost everything they've done lately. Pinterest is ruthless.
It is disgusting how Pinterest is playing Rusian Roulette with our pins. I got regular feedback about my pins in the beginning but since the new algorithm, I get nothing. It's sad to break a system as badly as they have. Thanks for sharing this.
I was just on here looking for a way to complain to Pinterest. I fell in love with a site that had VERY LITTLE ADS. Now it is nothing but a walking bill board. Every time I click to see something, nothing but ads come up. Can anyone suggest another site that is more like the old Pinterest?
For the past 2 weeks the same pin pops up on my feed every day. Every. Day. I'm tired of the promoted pins, I'm tired of pinterest telling me what I want to see, I hate the new comment system, and the fact you see how many times a pin has been pinned from the dawn of time.
Totally agree! So many repeated old pins...I don't like the "smart feed!"
I miss the old Homefeed so much, I have been complaining this whole time. We are not heard. I think we will have to move on. Anyone on Juxtapost?
I have been following this comment thread for a long time and agree with everything everyone has said. The "smart" feed managed to find a way to take away just about everything I enjoyed about Pinterest.
Now, to add insult to injury, Pinterest has suddenly changed the way it looks on the web-based platform and it is a terrible eyesore to behold. From the gigantic font, to the atrocious header layout, to the cropped image photos - another Pinterest "improvement" that more resembles a train wreck. I thought my computer had some sort of glitch, so I asked about it on Pinterest's Facebook page and was told that this was an intentional change/improvement and that they would not be going back to the previous layout. Take that, Pinterest fans!
Like a lot of commenters here, I have been with Pinterest since it was invitation-only, and one by one, the powers that be have taken away the things that made Pinterest so enjoyable and have replaced them with "features" that detract from the experience rather than improving it.
I have tried to get past my disappointment with Pinterest since the introduction of the smart feed despite the massive drops in repin and follower traffic, despite the massive influx of spam on my home feed, despite the slog it is now to see what the people I follow are pinning, etc. This latest change may be the push that I needed to just say goodbye. It's a shame.
Thank you for the explanation of why Pinterest sucks lately. I too am tired of seeing the same pins over and over again.
Thanks for this informative explanation of changes made to Pinterest recently...I agree and preferred the old Pinterest to the new and hope they read and appreciate this type of feedback...in the end when they start losing the interest of loyal users it will be too late so hopefully they take note and respond to our opinions...I for one miss everything about how my homepage looks I feel it is much less appealing and this is important to me. Right now my home page looks chopped up, scaled down and honestly I wish I had my old format back. Thanks again for giving us a place to express our issues.
Oh my goodness, I just HATE the recent upgrade (July 2016). What is with the HUGE font! Ugh! So ugly. I do (did) my pinning via an iPad and before it was so easy, smaller font, larger photos ... And I could use one hand. Now I have to use two hands and jump all over the page to make my selections! Then at the very end there is another large message that pops up telling me where I've pinned my last pin, handy to know, but it is so big and SLOW it gets in the way of the feed. I have contacted their rep and she agreed with me but said there was nothing I could do. I did the survey, but it didn't leave much room for opinions. So sad :(
Thank you for the thoughtful explanation. Pinterest should realize that the most enticing element of popular products that people use, buy, or support is the autonomy that users have so they may personalize engagement and content delivery. The smart feed Pinterest has chosen to use gives users no option to opt out- it's similar to not being able to turn off notifications. Please Pinterest, at least give me the option to use smart feed or turn it off!
I was wondering why I keep seeing the same things over and over....I am a teacher and need to get NEW IDEAS for this next school year AND I have NOT found anything I haven't already pinned! So FRUSTRATING! I also use Pinterest as a tool in my classroom for my students and if this keeps up then it will NOT be useful because the kids wil not be able to find anything NEW!
Thank you for researching and figuring out what we were all wondering about!!
I hate the picked for you pins. I don't want pinterest to pick for me, especially when the picked for you pin is a copyright violation that I get blamed for pinning.
Wouldn't it be nice if pinterest quit improving things that don't need to be improved?
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