Mary-Kathryn Vest enjoys keeping up with her friends and family on Facebook, but logging on to Facebook and seeing public bickering between her family members leaves her annoyed and frustrated. However, Vest has found a new social media outlet with significantly less turmoil.
“I’d choose Pinterest over Facebook in a heartbeat. With Facebook there’s an overwhelming amount of drama and things to keep up with. Pinterest has none of that; it’s just fun,” said Vest.
She is not alone. Pinterest is just one of the many alternative venues to Facebook. Social media users are now flocking to other sites such as Tumblr, Instagram, and Pinterest to communicate and share. What do all of these have in common? They are focused on pictures. This increasing popularity of photo-rich sites could detract usage from Facebook, which has been the longstanding “king” of social media, with over 900 million users.
Willie Baronet, advertising professor at Southern Methodist University, said one of Facebook’s main flaws is that it can cause conflict among groups of people.
“It can cause some insulation among groups who only hear people with similar opinions repeating the same thoughts over and over,” said Baronet.
While all of these sites are centered on photo content, each one brings something different to the table.
With an estimated 73.2 million users, Tumblr is a micro-blogging platform as well as a social media site. It is different from Instagram and Pinterest in presentation. Everything appears in a blog format, and users post their own content and re-blog from other users.
Instagram has around 15 million users and is a free photo-sharing platform where users can take photos, apply a filter or effect, and then share it with the Instagram community. It is a fast way to create lasting memories on the Web while sharing with others.
In contrast, Pinterest is an online pin board styled site for sharing photos. “Pinners” may create different themed boards and “re-pin” other pinners’ photos in order to express their own taste.
Taylor Suzanne is a food blogger, but said she found her new passion is Pinterest.