It seems as though people generally fall into one of three camps when it comes to Pinterest:

1. They love it!
2. They find it a major time-suck, not worth the “investment.”
3. They’ve never heard of it.

If you fall into the first category, you probably don’t even need to read this post.  (But you can use the button below, and follow me!)  If you fall into the second category, some of what I have to say may change your mind.  Or it may not.  That’s okay – it’s totally a personal decision.  (And, honestly, whether or not it’s a real time suck varies from person to person.)  If you are part of the third group, keep reading!  You’re in for a treat. 🙂

What Is Pinterest?

Pinterest is primarily a visual bookmarking service.  Have you ever bookmarked a recipe or something, and then had trouble remembering which text link was the right bookmark when you went back to find it?  Well, Pinterest is image-based, so that is not a problem – you just skim over the photos until you see the one that is the recipe you were look for, and there it is.  (Very helpful for us visual thinkers!)

However, Pinterest is also a social bookmarking service.  That is, you “follow” people and are “followed by” people, so you can see what others Pin and others can see what you Pin.  Although you do have to keep in mind that this is public, this can be very helpful, because you can find some great new content you wouldn’t have otherwise seen.  (And it’s easy to “re-Pin” these things to your own boards so you can find them again easily later.)

So Why Use It?

Well, honestly, although a lot of people complain about it being a time-suck (and it does have that potential), I have found it to actually save me time.  Because I do not struggle to relocate the things I’ve bookmarked, I am not wasting a lot of time looking for something I already found once.

The social aspect helps me discover new, quality content.  People generally don’t Pin things they think are junk.  They Pin things they love.  So when new stuff comes across my Pinterest feed, I can not only see at a glance whether it looks interesting to me, it already has built=in “social proof.”  (That means that others have already “vetted” it.)

It is an especially rich resource for recipes, crafts and other DIY ideas, and for other visual types of inspiration (like color schemes or clothing combinations).

If you make your own gifts, it can be a huge boon!  I not only now have a rich “file” of gift-making ideas (in the form of a Pinterest board), I also see great ideas for creative and attractive packaging.  (And I really need this, because lovely packaging is really not my forté.)

Other Benefits of Pinterest

Because of the way Pinterest accounts are divided into “boards” (think traditional corkboards), it’s pretty simple to sort your Pins by category.  It’s also simple to see the new content you’d like to see and not the rest.  Unlike Facebook or Twitter, where following someone means following everything they ever post, on Pinterest you have choices.  You can click one button and “Follow All” of a user’s boards.  You can selectively follow just a couple.  Or you can “Follow All” and then deselect just a few.  That way, I could follow most of a user’s boards, butnot the “vegan recipes” board (because I don’t eat vegan) and not the “Halloween ideas” board (because we don’t celebrate Halloween) or “cats” (because I’m not a “pets” person).  (This is totally a made-up example; everyone’s boards vary.)

What They Could Improve On

There are a few areas where Pinterest could improve the implementation a little – and hopefully will, eventually.  (They’re growing exponentially, and I would imagine it’s all they can do at the moment just to keep up!)

It’s kind of a hassle to rearrange your Pins once they’re there.  They show up on a given board in chronological order (newest near the top), and you can’t change this.  You can move them from one board to another, but it’s not very easy to do if you’re moving a lot of them, so it’s best, when you can, to create the boards you want from the beginning.

The search options are somewhat limited.  You can search among Pins, boards, or users.  However, you cannot search within a specific board or user’s Pins.  And you can view all of the Pins from a particular site – supposedly – but this feature seems to be a bit glitchy and doesn’t show all of the results.

Many users would like to see private boards as an option.  I agree that this would be nice.  (There may be some things I would like to remember that the general public doesn’t really care about.)  In the meantime, I have no problem with its being public; I’m not Pinning anything I’m embarrassed about, anyway!

Get On Board

Convinced yet?  Last I checked, Pinterest was still invitation-only.  (I think this is so they can keep an eye on growth.)  Anyone can get an invitation, though.  Go here to start the registration process.  And don’t forget to follow me! 🙂