In the headline-trot and arms-length reach of digital media, younger generations have sought out hyper-specific communities and special interests to find belonging in an ever-lonesome age. This has churned out an obsession with the search for one’s “niche” and respective coined phrases that come served on an empty platter. It seems everyone knows what they like, but not why they like it.

I recently deleted the Pinterest tab from my browser after frequenting the site nearly every week for the last six — maybe seven — years. In my late middle school days, Pinterest was a hub for community seekers who continue to fuel the platform today. Like many other teenagers, envisioning my future and “pinning” outfit inspiration became my favorite pastime. Rightfully so, Pinterest was the digital poster-ridden wall of my dreams. 

Over time, we have become accustomed to being spoon-fed content that the algorithm tailor has custom-fit just to us — how kind!

However, now a new media and digital design major and an eager interdisciplinary creative (buzzword-victim of my own circumstances), I find myself questioning the critical value of this age-old practice. Sure, I was fluent in the visual language I crafted and my compartmentalization skills had peaked, but my ability to identify the origins of the things I liked and articulate why I liked them had subsided. Armed with newfound curiosity, I returned to the long-forgotten question: What makes something good?

Over time, we have become accustomed to being spoon-fed content that the algorithm tailor has custom-fit just to us — how kind! TikTok is a platform that does not dance around this fact. With their neatly labeled “For You” page, you can leisurely scroll for hours on end and enjoy videos that just so happen to match your age, location and personality.

Content has become capital in a transactional age. More specifically, personalization and self-optimization are displayed in the content we consume.

This spreads beyond social-centered platforms. On Spotify, for example, its Smart Shuffle, Discovery Weekly playlist and AI DJ that work to ensure the listener doesn’t have to comb through dozens of records to determine what music they like and don’t like. 

Social media may come and go, but creativity is forever.

It’s no wonder that we have become accustomed to this way of life and why we, as students, are losing our sense of purpose in higher education. In a sea of faces, it seems there are fewer and fewer voices every semester. Maybe people are too afraid now to speak their mind, afraid of not having the properly “curated” answer. Or maybe “cancel culture” has cultivated a widespread fear of rejection and failure. Or hyper-saturated personalized feeds leave students at a lack for originality and ideas.

Regardless, it is evidently a trend that is sweeping through universities — and not one handed to us by an algorithm. Social media may come and go, but creativity is forever.

 So down with the apps and on with the search for tangible inspiration. Soon after closing the Pinterest tab off my browser, I found myself exploring digital archives — the Internet Archive, to be exact. I learned about the FWA, Favourite Website Awards, which highlights a new platform every day from around the world. I browsed virtual copies of SPIN magazine from the 80s, bookmarking pages that I enjoyed. Essentially, putting the cataloging skills I learned from Pinterest into use. One honorable mention is Are.na — an “internet memory palace” that I have yet to explore.

Pre-Pinterest-purge, I spent the greater part of the last year visiting physical archives here in New York. One of my favorite places to “Pinterest IRL,” if you will, is at the New York Public Library. As much as I want to keep the Picture Collection and its magical shelves all to myself, just this once, I’ll make an exception due to the dire need to keep places like this alive.

Aside from being smack dab in the middle of Tourist City (midtown), the Picture Collection is a magical, magical place housing thousands of photographs and magazine clippings galore — each sorted by subject. Truly, they have anything you can imagine. A few favorites of mine I’ve visited include: Music – 1960s, Nightclubs, Dining – 1990s, New York City – Brooklyn, Teenagers, Tableware and I could go on and on.

Now, I’m a creature of comfort, so I typically end up crawling back to those grand lion-safeguarded steps, but a couple more archives have come across my desk that I am eager to explore. First and foremost, Library180 in the Financial District — a “new image reference library” available by appointment. If it were a tad closer to me, that red library card would be sitting pretty in my wallet right about now, but alas … today is another day without it. The main attraction of Library180 seems to be its massive archive of vintage fashion magazines. Where the NYPL Picture Collection has subjects and select pages, Library180 offers print issues in their entirety. My dream date … cute.

To round out the archive trifecta is Vowels Research Library at 76 Bowery. Again, I can’t believe I’m revealing this one before I get a chance to get my hands on it myself — but power to the print. Also by appointment, this archive resides in the Vowels clothing store. Like their denim, knitwear and accessories, I believe Vowels’ library is notable for their archival books and magazines from Japan, but I will report back soon.

All in all, each of these inspiration hubs has further influenced my eventual breakup with Pinterest and encouraged my ever-turbulent battle with social media at large. But, it’s an on-again, off-again sort of relationship. What’s a girl to do?

Evidently — ad-swarming, overconsumption-encouraging and spoon-feeding aside — the functionality of the digital catalog on Pinterest can be great! What’s a better dopamine hit than refreshing the page to a brand-new paper garland to craft? Or a quick savior outfit for the days you’re running out of the house with a mountain of clothes on your bed?

Admittedly, I would rather spend hours spinning my favorite albums and scrolling Pinterest than on TikTok — it’s a great place to get the gears turning when setting out on a new project. But in order to maintain a finger on the pulse of your own creativity, I think it’s important to get your hands dirty every now and then. Yes, it’s true, boredom can in fact be the best fuel to one’s imagination. What better way to spend boredom in one of the busiest cities in the world than in a place where creativity is, quite literally, at your fingertips?