Pinterest - A Social Cataloging Community

Pinterest is basically a social catalog.  It's a community to share collections of things you love.  It's similar to a "like" on Facebook, or a "+1" on Google Plus. It's even like "Digg" "Delicious" "StumbleUpon" and "ReTweeting" but the difference at Pinterest is that it's all about "Pin" or pinning content. 

According to TechCrunch, Pinterest hit 10 million US monthly uniques faster than any standalone site ever.  AGBeat says that Pinterest now drives as much traffic as Twitter  Since Pinterest accounts are by invitation only, how do you get invited? 

You can ask a friend, or you can also just request one like I did right from the site.  It took about three days, then an email invite arrived at my in-box.  I've setup a couple boards myself to see how it all works and to learn how to navigate around the site.  To be honest, I like the ease of use.  I can see the potential the site has and why it's getting tons of attention.  It's worth checking out, Pinterest has something for everyone for sure. 

Some Quick Pinterest Etiquette:

Be Nice! Be Creative. The best pinboards mix products, art, recipes and images from all across the web. Try not to pin everything from a single source.  Give Credit. If you blog about an item you found on Pinterest, it's nice to credit your fellow pinners by linking back to the original pin.

A Few Tips once you get started:

Make sure you Install the bookmarklet. It lets you add a pin from any website with just one click. 

Be sure to follow others pinboards. You can use your Twitter and Facebook accounts to find other friends on Pinterest to follow as well as invite. Pinterest is as much about discovering new things as it is about sharing.

Pin carefully! Use big images, write thoughtful descriptions, and pin things you really love. Also, no nudity, sorry!  :)  Oh yeah, and ' forget to follow me on Pinterest too.

 

• Email to a friend • •