PINTEREST, the dark shadow in the room

Ever feel like there’s someone lurking, planning on taking your stuff? Welcome to the world which now includes Pinterest.

Yes, Pinterest is full of lovely images, pretty pictures collected like scrapbooks. The problem is that even if they provide the link to the owner of the images you still have to wonder if they actually have permission. It's all a bit lazy. Find some bright shiny object that fascinates you and like a kleptomaniac it suddenly appears in your purse...board (page).

I can understand why some people are attracted to it, but I find it merely annoying. Grab something from someone else, pin it on your page, and move on to the next scrap to appropriate, the next shiny object you see to put your name on. Heck, just appropriate someone else's name that you like. Don't worry about the fact that this might end up causing all involved problems with this "appropriation."

Now here’s where I have a HUGE problem. I have discovered there are two women using the phrase “~Ephemera~Tattered And Lost~ as the titles for the ephemera they post. One, Diana Harris-Day, is even blatantly using many of my items with credit given, but then turns around and labels all of her ephemera post Tattered and Lost. Really? The name of my blog appears beneath the images she’s posted and then she turns around and also uses my name for the name of her page? I have contacted both of them and hope they figure out what they’re doing really isn’t very nice. But these days feeling shameful is practically prehistoric. I just want people aware that I am not this woman. She is using my identity, not the other way around.

I have also contacted a few people who are using photos from my photography blog. I draw the line there. It specifically states on the page that the images belong to me and may not be used in any manner without my permission, thus the reason I watermark them. I have requested the pin-ners unpin them.

This all may seem a bit much, but heed it as a warning. If you own something which is an original you will need to take precautions that others are not profiting off your personal collection that you have spent money, time, and research finding. There is also talk that once an item is posted on Pinterest they "own" it. Have not yet verified this.

And at least Pinterest is supplying a brief line of code to ad to your blog that is meant to discourage people if they choose to pinch something. You can find it here.

I understand that for a lot of people, mostly women, this is a fun site. That's great, knock yourself out, but think before you pin or name your stuff using someone else's name because you might be causing the owner of the item a problem.