Pin it, Scoop it: curate or copy and paste?

My friend went to a market around Christmas and commented to me that everything she saw, she'd seen before on pinterest. That worried me. In this internet sharing generation are we stamping out originality as everyone grabs ideas from the same pool, albeit a very big pool. I'm as guilty as anybody else. I love pinterest for gaining inspiration for everything from my garden to story times. Someone has to have the original idea I know so there the unique creativity lies, but are we as the pinners becoming as bland as a retail park? All the same stuff over and over. I hope not, and I know from people around me that there are ideas that don't just come from the internet.

So, this week I've been learning about Scoop.it! and having a play around with that for Thing #17 in the 23 things. To me it seems like a pinterest for words rather than pictures. I can see the appeal of curating information on a subject in one place. I found some great library topics to follow and I can see that it's a good tool to have. If I'm researching some information it's a good place to put articles I find so I don't forget where on the internet I found it - as is frequently the case. My only bug bear with Scoop.it! is the suggestions of articles from other people's boards/magazines to add to your own. I would read what other people have collected on the topic, but I'd like to create my own magazine, not copy what someone else is doing on the site. What is the point of creating my own topic page if it is just filled with other people's scoops?

All this talk about scoops has the word association bit of my brain thinking of ice cream and day-dreaming of warm summer evenings, envious of those who have escaped somewhere hot this March break. Even on this chilly evening I wouldn't say no to a plate of this very original looking dessert - and I don't even like ice cream...

Photo courtesy of Mabdul on Flickr