pinteresting, you know...
by Alexis timmons
Pinterest.com. The third most popular social networking website, and one of the best time wasters. Pinterest is a website community where you share (pin) pictures of things you like on your page. It’s one of the best and newest ways to express you, it says on about.pinterest.com “Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organizing things you love.” So is this art, or just a way to waste your day away? Both?
Walter Benjamin, a philosopher, would say this doesn’t qualify as real art. Everything on Pinterest is a picture, which is a form of mechanical reproduction, and in Benjamin’s opinion that is not art. He thinks that if you don’t see the original product you can’t know what it truly is. In his opinion, everything has an aura, and without experiencing the real thing, you don’t get the same feeling. Everything has a history and traditions linked with it, so he thinks that if you just see a replica (like a picture) you can’t know what it means to everyone.
Another philosophical question Pinterest arises is what persons opinion of what’s beautiful is right? Kant would say that there is no science to beauty, and it is all opinions. So I think Kant would agree with the concept of Pinterest. He thinks that everyone’s opinion of beauty is right, and the main use of Pinterest is to showcase everyones tastes. Also Kant says that someone cannot change another’s opinion, but one can pretend that they have changes their opinion to be in the majority. Likewise, on about.pinterest.com/basics it says, “We think authenticity-pinning things that express who you really are and what you really like- is more important than getting lots of followers.”
Personally I am addicted to Pinterest, it’s good for expressing yourself, organizing ideas, and wasting time. I think that if they were both alive, Walter Benjamin wouldn’t like it because of all the imitation, but Kant would like how easy it is to express you. In my opinion, Kant’s reason is sounder because the real meaning of Pinterst is to express yourself. Also on everything there are captions, so everyone would know what this exactly means to you. Though Benjamin’s argument makes sense, I could still get a good feeling from something even though the picture is not “original” and is only a reproduction. Asking questions like “Is Pinterest real art?” can never truly be answered, there may be someone who has a strong argument for or against it but it is all up to your opinion.
Walter Benjamin, a philosopher, would say this doesn’t qualify as real art. Everything on Pinterest is a picture, which is a form of mechanical reproduction, and in Benjamin’s opinion that is not art. He thinks that if you don’t see the original product you can’t know what it truly is. In his opinion, everything has an aura, and without experiencing the real thing, you don’t get the same feeling. Everything has a history and traditions linked with it, so he thinks that if you just see a replica (like a picture) you can’t know what it means to everyone.
Another philosophical question Pinterest arises is what persons opinion of what’s beautiful is right? Kant would say that there is no science to beauty, and it is all opinions. So I think Kant would agree with the concept of Pinterest. He thinks that everyone’s opinion of beauty is right, and the main use of Pinterest is to showcase everyones tastes. Also Kant says that someone cannot change another’s opinion, but one can pretend that they have changes their opinion to be in the majority. Likewise, on about.pinterest.com/basics it says, “We think authenticity-pinning things that express who you really are and what you really like- is more important than getting lots of followers.”
Personally I am addicted to Pinterest, it’s good for expressing yourself, organizing ideas, and wasting time. I think that if they were both alive, Walter Benjamin wouldn’t like it because of all the imitation, but Kant would like how easy it is to express you. In my opinion, Kant’s reason is sounder because the real meaning of Pinterst is to express yourself. Also on everything there are captions, so everyone would know what this exactly means to you. Though Benjamin’s argument makes sense, I could still get a good feeling from something even though the picture is not “original” and is only a reproduction. Asking questions like “Is Pinterest real art?” can never truly be answered, there may be someone who has a strong argument for or against it but it is all up to your opinion.