I was exposed to Pinterest about two weeks ago when a friend of mine talked endlessly about her new obsession. As a guy, it seemed like Pinterest didn’t have a place for me, especially since a little under 60% of its users are in fact women. But I had to put this aside when taking a look at the application for what it is. So what in fact is Pinterest? Think of it as your collection board in a room, where you collect the cool things you find and have memories about and place them on your board. Pinterest is the same thing. You are presented with tons of topics and categories, and when you find something cool, pin it! It’s akin to Tumblr’s reposting feature, but with a couple of more features. What exactly are they? Let’s look closer at this website/app.
How Does it Work?
Pinterest works by clicking the top where you have different categories. From food to music, technology to photography, there is an interest for everyone on the site. Now that you’ve found your interest, you are now presented with some multimedia. It ranges from .gifs to videos to pictures and more. When you find an interesting media, simply pin it to your board. When signing up, you are asked to make a board. You can have some of your food boards, another for maybe clothes and so on. But there is way more that you can make use of from Pinterest, and we will look at those possibilities now.
How Does it Help Me?
Yes, I know it seems like the biggest time waster out there. You are just finding things and saying you like them. How productive can that be, right? But there are so many possibilities with Pinterest. For example, the friend of mine who exposed me to Pinterest mentioned how she has a board for clothes she’s interested in getting, another board for food she wants to cook soon, and a third for just some of her casual finds. The boards is the selling point that makes Pinterest the appealing application. In addition, the ability to share some of your boards through various websites and Twitter makes it great for wish lists as well.
Sharing Your Pins
You have your boards created and found a couple of things you want to share with friends and family for your upcoming birthday or gift giving occasion. From clothes to other things you find, you want to send the boards out to spark the minds of those you are expecting gifts from. To set up sharing through social networks, simply go to settings and select where you want to share your pins. You can also share a link through email and if they are on Pinterest, share with a friend.
Signing Up for Pinterest
Now that you’re interested in Pinterest, you have two ways to sign up. The first way is through the website, by asking for a request. Yes, Pinterest is a private social network, meaning not just anyone can join but only those with invitations. The second way to gain an invite is through a friend already on Pinterest. Various websites who offer Pinterest invites use this second option to give out invitations.
More Info…
Want to learn more about Pinterest or request an invite, check out their website here.