January 5, 2012
Pique Your "Pinterest"
Have you heard of Pinterest yet? Well if you haven’t, then you had better educate yourself on the latest craze that is taking the social media world by storm and was recently named one of TIME Magazine’s “50 Best Websites of 2011.” Though the site is still extremely young and is currently “invite-only”, it has seen its membership base grow almost 300% during the last quarter of 2011, and it now boasts a total of over 4 million active users. The company also received $27 million in venture funds this past October, only furthering the notion that Pinterest is truly taking off.
So what is Pinterest? To put it quite simply, it is a social media website that allows users to post and share online images in an organized manner in an effort to find others who share the same interests. Users are able to upload images found online to their “Board” by using the “PinIt” button or they can simply upload an image from their PC. Images can also be organized into separate Boards that focus on specific subjects and categories, making it simple to find others who have created similar visuals.
Users can also interact with others by liking a certain Pin, commenting on it, or even by “Repinning” the image to their own respective Board. Furthermore, if a user finds a certain Board that they are particularly interested in then they have the option of following that Board (and/or the profile of the user that created it) for future updates and enjoyment.
The images found within the site cover virtually any subject one could possibly think of, and the site can be used for a multitude of purposes. Though Pinterest can be used solely for entertainment, it also has some very useful and beneficial applications depending on the type of user engaging with it. People can use the Boards that they create as a way to organize ideas and important visual aids all in one simple online format. For example, artists can use their Boards as inspiration for future work, designers can pin all of the latest fashions to a certain Board in order to use it as a basis for their own creations, and those interested in culinary arts can create vivid online cook books. Boards can even be used as simple reminder lists of things one may need when engaging with a certain project or when trying to achieve an important life goal. The possibilities are truly endless.
Basically, if you haven’t checked out Pinterest yet, I suggest that you do so. Also be sure to think of ways that you could use the site to market your own brand. The site does not have any features tailored specifically toward the business world, such as Facebook or Google+ brand pages, but the site could prove quite beneficial to marketers everywhere with a little creativity and ingenuity. That is because with the incredible upsurge in membership and usage rates that the site has seen recently, it certainly has the potential to be a big player in the digital marketing landscape as the site continues to grow and expand.
So what are you “Pinterested” in?
