I’m a waffleler. I don’t know if that’s a word or not, but I waffle on the topic of Pinterest.

I just attended a session on how fabulous Pinterest is for businesses at the IABC Southern Region Conference in Charleston, South Carolina. The presenter was Tim McMullen, a really cool guy who founded a marketing/social media firm in Nashville called Red Pepper. Prior to hearing him speak, I was four paragraphs into a blog post on what a waste of time Pinterest is. Thus, I waffle.

So, I begin with the negative: Generation Y’s love Pinterest, and they go around pinning everything they believe is perfect online. These mostly young women plan their perfect online lives. (Men, hello? Are you on Pinterest?) These girls adorn their dorm rooms, schedule their engagements, plan their weddings, decorate their homes or apartments, organize their pregnancy, reveal the sex of their children, and welcome their babies.

Keep in mind these are beautiful lives. In Pinterest land, nothing bad happens.

Yes, I believe in dreams. Everyone should have aspirations. But why waste your time sitting on your ratty apartment futon for hours pinning recipes you’ll never make, extravagant homes you’ll never live in and amazing hairdos you can never achieve?

I think we should all strive to improve our lives, but what I don’t like about Pinterest is that it has created a generation of women who believe this sort-of online Utopia will someday come true. Or worse, people who sit around pinning and make themselves miserable knowing that it won’t ever come true. Perfect homes. Perfect makeup. Perfect bridal showers. Perfect Thanksgiving tables with tiny turkeys at every plate.

And, a true story about a Pinterest-loving Bridezillas who was so obsessed with her balloons lifting off immediately following her wedding ceremony (an idea she lifted from Pinterest) that she couldn’t focus on one of the most important moments in her life.

I used to hate the phrase “live in the moment” because I thought who isn’t living in the moment? We are all living (well, aren’t we?)… and this is the moment! But, Pinterest is taking that away from those who are pinning, because that’s not living. That’s fake living.

And, isn’t it sad to pin things day after day that you want. It’s like a child’s Christmas list filled with ponies and backyard merry-go-rounds – but for grownups. Forever unattainable.

Now, to Mr. McMullen’s point.

First of all, he did his entire presentation IN Pinterest… which I didn’t even know was possible. And, that was SO cool! He talked about some very fascinating marketing strategies I hadn’t thought about: ways to target audiences, capture customer information and most importantly generate sales.

Yes, today people consume media differently. It’s not just traditional stuff like TV anymore. And, it’s certainly not newspaper, (even though I still read it)! Pinterest is growing at an astounding rate. In only two years, it has more than 10 million users – Facebook only had 6 million users in its first 2 years. (Thank you Red Pepper Pinterest page for that pin!)

Bottom line: from a business perspective, I MUST use Pinterest. I have to get on board, get excited about it and get creative!

I’m open to suggestions. If you use Pinterest for more than a fake/beautiful/coveted life, inform me! I’m a newbie and I’m willing to be “pinned wrong” on this one!