What’s with all the buzz around Pinterest?

Working with social media presents a lot of challenges including keeping current with the latest platforms. It took a friend in Stockholm to peak my interest when she showed me her Pinterest account. A few days later she obliged me with an invitation.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard.

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. To get started,?request an invite.

How is Pinterest creating buzz? One way is by making their service invitation only. This automatically makes the early adopters anxious as they want to be in on the next big thing. Even the casual social media user may be interested to join something that requires an invitation. This creates the feel of exclusivity. But that only lasts up to a point. What else is creating the buzz around Pinterest?

Here’s a slideshow of the set up:

You may have noticed that right out of the gate I was following dozens of my friends. that was automatically generated from my email address. OK, I can always go back later and unfollow any or all of those selections. Once I decided which topics to follow I was again automatically following other Pinterest users that the system determined I would like. Again, I can go back and unfollow them.

Our Mission

Our goal is to connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting. We think that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests.

It remains to be seen if I will adopt this new platform for personal use. As shown in the slideshow, I installed the tool to my browser for easy Pinteresting. I will also test its value for brand and community building. It is too tempting for retailers to simply post a photo of their wares that link back to a price on their site. Pinterest is an opportunity to show your interests aside from selling your goods. Take your camera and go out in your neighborhood. Share you employees interests through pictures before you push the items you want to sell. The ability to have as many different boards as you like that all of your followers can see means that you are only limited by your imagination.

What Can You Do with Pinterest?

Redecorate your Home!

Joy uses Pinterest to save decorating ideas for her new home in LA. She saves patterns, furniture, and accessories that catch her eye.

Check out the other examples of how people are using Pinterest. And if Pinterest sounds like something of which you’d like to be a part, they’re hiring.