What is the Interest in Pinterest?
Like many of you, when I first heard about Pinterest I thought “Really? Why would I want to post pictures of things I like…and who in the world would want to see them?”
Then, because of the wonderful cross-over of Social Media platforms I started seeing Pinterest posts about recipes that appealed to me. Fine, I thought, I’ll follow the link and get the recipe. Oops, roadblock…I needed an invite. Now I wanted to be on Pinterest and suddenly couldn’t. Thankfully a friend provided the invite shortly after I posted about needing one. Many re-pinned recipes later I am an avid Pinterest user!
Recently I interviewed four ladies about their use of Pinterest. While each of them had different interests on the site, a variety of use, and tenure – ranging from a couple of weeks to a year, the one thing each one of them agreed on….they are Pinterest addicts! Introducing Monika, Amber, Katy and Vanessa; four very different women with different tastes, yet a common love of Pinterest.
Monika is the Pinterest veteran of the group, having used the site now for an entire year, with 29 boards and over 1600 pins! Among her favorites are two of her boards that channel her desire to stay grounded, & the other is a dare to dream for her passion of interior design. She loves to use Pinterest as a bookmarking site for recipes, shopping and DIY ideas. Monika has been able to try some of the recipes and made some clothing and shoe purchases through pins she has seen. She also has a lot if DIY projects on her want-to-try list. And while she encourages people to use Pinterest, she does caution users to be “conscientious pinners” – make sure the images you pin can be linked back to either an image owner or a blog citing photo credits. Regarding businesses that use Pinterest, she “honors their brand but encourages curiosity about the people & culture behind the pins & she encourages feedback on what is important to me as a customer.”
Amber has also been using Pinterest for quite a while, in comparison to most of us, at just over six months. She has a large collection with 24 boards and over 1500 pins! Two of her favorite topics to repin to her own boards are Weddings & Events and Health & Beauty. But she has also used Pinterest boards to put up her Christmas Wish Lists. Another creative way that Amber uses Pinterest is for the nail polishes she uses: “It helps prevent me from buying duplicates as well as an easy place to look at what I have.” She has a similar board for Beauty Products. She has enjoyed trying some recipes she has found, as well as some nail art ideas. She is OK with businesses on the site, but cautions that they “are going to need to do more than just post about their products. They should post tutorials and unique ideas on how to use their products not just ‘this is what we have to sell you’.”
Her advice to users is to remember that “Pinterest is about the people, it’s about you. Finding stuff you like, saving stuff for you. It is a tool for ME. I don’t really pay much, if any, attention to who posts what.”
Katy has made a big impact on Pinterest in just four months, with 23 boards and over 600 pins already…she admittedly loses track of time spent on the site, but is thoroughly enjoying it! She says it’s like a picture book for adults: “Pinterest makes me want to be more creative, it’s definitely opened up a part of me that I seem to have left back in high school.” She uses Pinterest for both personal and business use, but for the business purpose she tries to make sure it’s a pin that will interest people and not bombard them with pin after pin after pin, and appreciates businesses that use Pinterest creatively. Two of her favorite categories, Food and Hair, have given her many fabulous recipes to try, and creative hair styles she never thought she could do on her own. Two of her favorite personal boards are her For the Home and Fun Ideas boards. These boards ” incorporate all the fun, crazy, creative, unique, and interesting ideas that I hope to someday incorporate into my home.” She wishes there was a way to hide certain people from her feed, due to times of overload after a re-pin; but she does suggest to people that are hesitant to just play around with it! “Put up some of your very own pins! Instead of just repinning the great pins you’re seeing from other people, put up your own pin – show YOUR creativity. Show off your completely organized closet. Show off how cute your dog is. It’s fun to see the comments you get on your own pins as well as seeing the number of people repinning it.”
Vanessa is the newbie in the group, with only a few weeks in, but a very quick learner! She currently has nine boards, and almost 100 pins. The idea was at first a bit confusing, but now she loves having a place to create virtual collages. Vanessa is an artisan jewelry designer, so she uses Pinterest to showcase her own pieces, but also enjoys re-pinning and liking other designer’s pieces. She loves to use Pinterest as a digital scrapbook, to help inspire her for future ideas. She also loves the “thrill of people immediately responding to something I’ve pinned. I think beauty makes the world a better place and if I can spread beauty, I’m doing good work.” Her favorite category is Art, and she no doubts gets many of her pins from there to add to her personal favorite Inspiration board. Even though there are times Pinterest doesn’t recognize an image from a web page for her to pin, she still encourages users to “Have fun and use it as a place to collect things that bring a smile to your face.”
Follow me on Pinterest at: Social Networking Nanny
