Pinterest, if you haven't encountered it yet, is a virtual pinboard. It's yet another social media outlet and it caught on with women first -- currently about 80% of registered users are women -- and this has sadly led to it being characterized as merely "quaint" and unimportant. I think it might be the next big thing.
Isn't it just for women?
I first heard about Pinterest through ShinyShiny, a UK-based blog I've followed for many years that happens to be written by and for tech-savvy girls, so it was no surprise to learn that Pinterest was also aimed at the same demographic. And really, why is this such an issue? Companies -- heck entire sectors -- have been making money by targeting women for decades: fashion, housewares, Oprah, and of course the entire diet industry. Study after study has claimed since the 1950s that women make most of the decisions for major purchases in the home -- why would anyone criticize a web company for going after that market? To say it is "just for women" is nonsense of course; it's pretty difficult to make a web site gender-exclusive although Digg came pretty close.
So, it's pictures in groups?
Isn't YouTube just videos? Most of Tumblr is visual, and Flickr is all about pictures, too. If you subscribe to the "picture is worth 1,000 words" theory then there's lots to take in on any of these sites. What's key to Pinterest is the links behind the images. Done right, this can bring in a fair bit of traffic. Pinterest etiquette suggests that you not use the site solely for self-promotion but it isn't ruled out either. Just like Twitter, if you build a bigger picture by engaging and sharing items that complement your brand, you will gain followers who will be more likely to follow your links.
Link juice is good, what else is it good for?
Lots of people are talking about how the "biggest" use right now is wedding planning -- and there is a fair bit of that but I've tuned my boards so I don't see it unless I go to the "weddings" category. It makes sense; when we planned our wedding, I had a file full of things I had torn out of books, colour swatches, and ideas since a lot of our wedding was DIY. However, there are lots of great ways people are using Pinterest to organize:
- teachers and homeschoolers are sharing science experiments, lessons, art projects and other ideas
- recipe boards are very popular -- many people separate boards into type of food or even cocktails
- need people to help you stay motivated to get fit/lose weight/finish a project? group boards can fill that bill nicely
- bloggers are setting aside one board for "images from our articles" and writers for their own books
One last thing: Pinterest is a great way to trendspot. Look at the front page to see what sort of books are popular with reading clubs (are we finally done with vampires?), or what the latest craft style is (this week everyone needle-felted a Kindle cover), or what the next foodie trend will be (whoopie cookies or anything red velvet). If you need ideas for blog posts, type in a keyword or choose a category and scroll through a few images for inspiration. For me, it's a social network that gives back -- along with the conversations, feedback and silliness, I get a great visual file cabinet and regular doses of motivation.
