Trying to navigate the vast wilderness of selfies, reposts and memes that is social media can often leave us feeling hopeless. Scrolling through post after post, falling deeper and deeper into the despair crafted by the newsfeed; there is no way to combat it.

Yet when all hope is lost, Pinterest gives us denizens of the internet the edge we need. Pinterest is the organizational dynamo of the web. By tracking what you like, and filtering what you don’t, Pinterest keeps your feed full of the things you love.

But what about those times when you want to find a specific post from four months ago? I know I don’t want to be scrolling forever to find that post again, and I bet many out there would agree with me. Nobody has time for that.

This is not a problem. With Pinterest, you do not need to dump all your favorite things into one box. You can create “boards,” allowing you to completely organize all your thoughts and memories however you want.

But Jordan, you may ask, isn’t Pinterest for girls who like crafts and art? Why is a strapping young man like yourself using Pinterest?

Well, dear reader, let me rebuttal with this: Pinterest is for everyone.

From the musclebound he-man to the bookish intellectual, everyone can feel right at home on Pinterest. The former may follow boards on new protein shake recipes and effective workouts, while the latter may prefer best-seller lists and book reviews. The possibilities are only limited by your own interests.

Media sites such as Instagram only allow you to share pictures or phrases, placing a huge damper on the creative, analytical mind.

Pinterest, on the other hand, can share any format of media: websites, images, text and even ideas. It allows you to see what other people are thinking and doing, something social media has overblown with selfies and food pictures in recent years.

It is for these reasons Pinterest has my interest, and should have yours, too.

Instagram
Sadie Sedlmayr
Staff Writer

A picture tells a thousand words, and on Instagram, you will find some of the most amazing stories you have ever seen.

I know what you’re thinking: Why is Instagram so special? Isn’t it the same
as virtually every other social media app out there? And you’d be
somewhat right, but Instagram just has a way of connecting with people on a more
personal level.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not against Pinterest. I have both apps, but when it comes to
which one I use the most, Instagram wins every time. There is no better feeling in the world than peeking into the world of my friends and family as they share their lives through the lens of a mobile device.

Instagram is a fast, fun and easy way to do just that because you can share photos of your everyday life with an iPhone or Android and choose the filter that best captures the mood, scenery and tone of the image at hand.

I know there are a lot of followers of both Pinterest and Instagram, but regarding the
latter, I’m more engaged to the social aspect of it. It’s like Facebook or Twitter, but with
less words and more imagery.

Unlike Pinterest, I’m more likely to get away with my lack of photography skills thanks to Instagram’s various digital filtering features.

As an additional bonus, Instagram allows me to sync my filtered photos and videos to other social networking services like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or Flickr. After coming home from having classes all day, all I want is to have some down time for a while, so linking photos to various media outlets saves me more time in the long run.

You can’t deny the appeal of watching your friends and family from all over the world
living the same day on earth, which is why Instagram is the way to go.