Pinterest Finds Interest By Local Users

By Nancy K. Crevier

Every now and then something in the world of technology goes “Ping!” in my head, and I decide I have to explore it. Why, I am not sure. I am not a techie. I still think telephones are magical.

The latest reverberation in my brain is Pinterest. It started when I noticed two of my (young and savvy) friends on Facebook started commiserating about “pinning” things on Pinterest. Then, I saw that one of them had posted from a website I had sent her — on Pinterest.

My curiosity piqued, I had to Google it.

Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board managed by Cold Brew Labs out of California and launched in 2010 that allows you to set up any number of online pin boards that organize and share the things that you like with other Pinterest members. Like other social networks, you have to be invited to join Pinterest if you want to create boards, pin, or comment. But you can browse without joining.

Since neither of my Pinterest friends had yet invited me, I took Pinterest up on its own website offer. (Which leads me to wonder, why bother saying you need to be invited if you can beg your own invitation? I cannot imagine the site snubs anyone who asks.)

Pinterest.com has a thorough Help section and lots of pointers for pinning, but it took me several attempts to wrap my head around it. I was not sure then, and I am not one hundred percent sure now, what the difference is between sharing a photo/website with my friends on Facebook or by e-mail, and pinning it to a bulletin board.

The more I looked at it, though, the more I realized what a great reference it could be for myself, as well as a place to share with friends the cool, or not so cool, things I come across. Pinning photos to a virtual bulletin board is a little like going window shopping with all of your best friends. Except you don’t have to hog the whole sidewalk in front of a window.

By creating bulletin boards by category, I could see how easy it would be for me to locate new recipe ideas again, craft ideas, or fashions that I wanted to revisit when I had time. It could also link me to websites and blogs that I would otherwise easily overlook. It is a great link for a blog.

When I asked one of those techy young friends of mine why she used Pinterest, she replied, “I like to use the boards to curate style ideas I like, especially for home décor, wedding, and clothing.”

“I started using Pinterest in the last month or so,” said Newtown resident Michele C. Lurie. She had seen others mention it on Facebook, and a recurrent theme that the users were addicted to Pinterest.

“Then someone’s pin showed up on my Facebook page,” she said, so she decided to explore the newer form of social networking. A graphic designer, Ms Lurie initially pegged Pinterest as primarily for crafters, and while she found that interesting, “I didn’t have the time or inclination to do more outside of my job,” she said.

What she has discovered she does like about Pinterest, however, is that it provides her with fresh inspiration for day-to-day things “that I have exhausted on my own… For instance, I’m knee-deep in my third elementary-school-aged child, and I feel like I’ve used up all of my own fun birthday party themes, school valentines, class projects, etc, so Pinterest has been a great place to find new and fun ideas,” Ms Lurie said.

She has also found it to be a good source of new recipe ideas for children with fussy appetites or allergies.

“Before Pinterest, I would end up searching through the same food sites on the Internet over and over, and a lot of the food is similar. This has been a fun way to change things up,” she said.

Meridith Jackson’s husband discovered Pinterest and suggested she check it out, said the Sandy Hook resident.

“I was instantly hooked,” she admitted. With not a lot of time to browse the Internet for new ideas, Ms Jackson found the immediacy and ease of using Pinterest appealing.

“I am not into reading long blogs, but I may have a few minutes here or there. It’s easy for me to check out Pinterest from my phone app. I can click on the images I like and scroll past the ones I don’t have an interest in,” she said.

Since joining Pinterest, Ms Jackson said she has made more than a dozen recipes she found there.

“I use pinned cleaning and organizational tips. I am currently in a weight loss challenge and repost healthy and motivational tips multiple times a day. I have bought clothes and shoes that I wouldn’t have normally seen,” she said. In a nutshell, Ms Jackson said, Pinterest is “Genius!”

It is the addictive nature of pinning that has pinned Sandy Hook resident Lynne Erhardt, as well.

“I’ve been pinning for awhile. I just love it,” she said. “It’s like getting 100 new magazines delivered to your door every day!”

“I started using Pinterest a long time ago, when I came across it from This Old House,” said Jan-Marie Sirois of Sandy Hook, who has pinned everything from baby shower gifts and sewing patterns to remodeling ideas. “It’s a cure all,” said Ms Sirois.

Not just individuals are into the Pinterest craze. Education director Heather Lawless said that Pinterest will be one of many topics covered in a special March 17 seminar at Brookfield Craft Center, “Writing On The Wall: Social Media for Artists.”

“At Brookfield Craft Center, we Pinterest because we love to share visual information,” Ms Lawless said. “Communicating ideas via images inspires us inside and outside the studio.”

Linked Accounts

Maybe it is my technophobia, but it took me a few times of opening my new Pinterest account and staring at the blank page before I created a bulletin board. There was a little hesitation, I admit, in opening yet another layer of publicity to my private world, and the lack of desire to spend yet more time on the computer.

Ms Lurie said that her own boards remain fairly sparse, for similar reasons.

“I don’t have time to surf around for things to pin,” she said, and worried that Pinterest could be a big time waster. “Once something is tried and true, or I happen to come across something that I think is really representative of me and my world, it will end up on the boards. Right now,” she said, “I want to put a threshold on what things really say about me. I’m taking it slow.”

I pinned my first item last week. It was a spur of the moment thing, when I realized a recipe I had Googled might be of interest to others. I clicked on the little “Pin it” icon I had (after an awkward attempt or two) placed on my tool bar — and it worked! The photo and recipe came up with an option to “pin it” and voila — there it was, on my first and only bulletin board. Uploading images to Pinterest from my own albums is extremely easy, as well.

The more amazing thing was that within minutes someone else had seen it and repinned it to her own Pinterest board. Why has this social outlet suddenly gained popularity?

“It’s window shopping without the expense,” said experienced user Ms Sirois. “With the downfall of the economy, people want to find ways to comfort themselves. A glass of wine and Pinterest — you’re set for the evening,” she claimed.

I know I have a long road to travel to understand Pinterest. I am not ashamed to admit that I leaned on a younger co-worker to sort out my confusion about “Why did I read that I need timeline on Facebook to have Pinterest? If I don’t, does it mean none of my Pinterest followers are really able to follow me? Then how come someone repinned?” (Wikipedia notes: “The registration process currently requires users to link their Pinterest account to their Facebook or Twitter account. Users choosing to log in via Facebook must currently be using[(or opt in t]) Facebook’s Timeline format.” Interestingly, I do not have timeline on Facebook, but I do have a Pinterest account. I believe it means that if you want your pins to show up on your Facebook page, it does require timeline.)

You can join Pinterest through your Facebook account, in which case you do need the timeline version, or through Twitter, or as I did, directly through Pinterest.com. As Ms Jackson mentioned, there is a smartphone app for Pinterest, allowing pinners to post from their phones.

Now that I have a Pinterest account, I am astounded by the number of people who want to follow me, and equally astounded at how swiftly my pinnings are repinned.

How popular will Pinterest become? If the “Ping!” in my head is right, it will be a (p)interesting phenomenon.