Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.

At this point, you’re probably exhausted from all the “screens are ruining your life” talk, and I get it. In many ways, it’s a utopian stretch of a story that attempts to eliminate phones from our daily lives. But we shouldn’t be discussing how to completely erase our phones when society is not only too dependent but also too addicted. The discussion we need to have, one that will actually get us somewhere, is one of alternatives.

Local coffee shops expand their milk options from whole and skim to nondairy alternatives; vegetarians at a restaurant opt for protein substitutions; and you’ve likely found exercises to sub in and out of your daily workout routine. The 21st century runs on the idea of alternative options and not only as an inclusivity measure — it’s an attempt to stray away from the plateaus and damages that the old standards would yield. 

So why can’t we do that with our approach toward social media?

I offer my personal alternative: Pinterest. If you’re not familiar, Pinterest is a visual search engine used for idea generation. You can create boards based on a category you’re looking into, and the algorithm will show you new ideas that other accounts create themselves. Think of it as a community gallery of inspiration where you curate your own collections.

I’ve relied on Pinterest since about middle school. I’ve found dozens of cookie recipes during COVID-19, tried out new outfits and now I’m on the search for apartment decor ideas. It’s helped teachers with classroom plans, artists with project inspiration, but most importantly, it curbs the addiction to short-form content. 

It’s an app that gets you to think ahead rather than mindlessly scroll.

I would place a great deal of money on the fact that you’ve never heard someone say they’re “on a Pinterest cleanse.” That stems from the mission of the company. Pinterest’s purpose is to be a positive space on the internet — a less toxic, inspirational platform for all. They’ve engineered an algorithm that is rooted in responding to the ideas and pins you positively interact with, engaged in upholding teen internet safety standards, and they have directed initiatives to stand in solidarity with teen mental health initiatives. Pinterest wants to continue standing as a beneficial platform for users, as well as maintaining standards of care and safety for teens and adults. 

This is a goal we often take for granted during our doomscrolling. Mainstream forms of social media feed you content through an algorithm that doesn’t care about the negativity or power of the message. It’s a cycle that keeps apps like TikTok and Instagram as the top-used social platforms in the world, and it contributes to mental health issues companies are already well aware they aggravate and often cause. There’s no net benefit for us, the users, but there’s infinite return for the creators.

As a student at Colorado State University, you may have chosen to go here with a similar message in mind. As a heavily nature-oriented school, disconnecting from our phones and finding alternate ways to connect with others is already the status quo, even if we have our phones as a vice. And our mental health does improve the more we find ways to get outside, be creative and stay away from short-form content. Pinterest helps to echo this need by supporting creative, innovative and outdoorsy minds.

Our 10-minute commutes are filled with TikTok videos and Instagram reels. Our nighttime routines end in mind-numbing scrolling. We know phones aren’t going anywhere, and we know we aren’t going to stop using them, so let’s start using the resources we have in a different way. 

Stop aiding the cycle. Delete the apps you can’t get enough of. Start implementing alternatives. Use Pinterest instead.