Dear Pinterest, Stop Promoting

I've tried to resist writing this post for months, but I just have to put my fingers to the keyboard to talk about Pinterest.  I've been using Pinterest for years.  I replaced my Diigo account with Pinterest as I loved how visual it was.  Those boards were so easy to utilize.  It was also much easier to collaborate, see the sites my friends were finding, and work socially.

Then came Pinterest promotion!  This morning, of my first 10 pins suggested by others, 6 are either promoted or picked for me.  As a scroll through Pinterest, my feed it is filled with pins Pinterest is sure I want to see, but here's the thing:  I don't.  As a teacher who uses Pinterest to keep track of thoughtful articles, digital writing mentors, and ways to improve my practice, I don't want to see Teachers Pay Teachers posts, free forms and worksheets, or other educational make and take ideas Pinterest is sure I want.  I don't want to see the posts Pinterest apparently thinks I want to see.  Instead, I want to see the pins my friends are selecting.

Since Pinterest has made this change, I spend very little time looking at my feed.  I find it frustrating to sort through the promotions to find what I am looking for when I visit.  Now I just use it to pin.  If it wasn't so perfectly organized and visual I probably would have left long ago.

Dear Pinterest, please stop promoting in my feed.  Let me enjoy your site for what it was meant to be, a social bookmarking site.  If you really need to promote - which I get that you need income to keep your site going - I'd like a way to move between tabs that take the promotion and picked pins out of my way.  This would allow me to see what I want to see.  Facebook places advertising on the side, Instagram puts one image in the first few pictures of your feed, Twitter adds one tweet to the top of your page.  I can live with all of these.  I've tried to get used to Pinterest's promoted pins, but it really has taken the interaction away from this site.  

I'm hoping at some point this post makes it to the decision makers and creators of Pinterest.  I'd love to hear your comments....and if you have a bookmarking site that's visual I'd love to hear more about it.  I may need to pack my pins and go.