Hello everyone!  I’ve been compiling this post in my head for a while now, and finally just decided to start writing it.  It seems that there is a lot more to know about Pinterest than what the average user is aware of.

So what is Pinterest?  I’m not gonna go into detail too much on this, because I think most of you have a pretty good idea of what the site is about, but for those of you who don’t, it’s a place full of images that you can “pin” to different boards you have created.  It is a way of organizing all the images and ideas you have come across on the web.  Long before Pinterest I had my own Pinterest and I called it my idea file.  I’ve been clipping images from magazines, recipes, ideas, etc. for years.  Organizing all of those clippings in a manner that was easy to go back to was another story.  This is what makes Pinterest so amazing.  You log in and every thing you have seen and been inspired by is all neatly attached to boards with titles you have created that you can easily access anytime.

I think this is where the average user gets a little lost.  Pinterest is more than just pinning other images that other people have previously pinned.  Every “pin” has a source, and that source is linked to someone’s original work.  It may be a blog, it may be a magazine, it could be lots of different things, but what is important to know, is that it belongs to someone else, and they need to be given the credit.  When you pin an image, you need to make sure that the original source is linked to it.  Meaning that in the right hand corner of your pin, there is a link that you can click and it will take you to the original website that it came from.  If it has been pinned many, many times, sometimes the link is broken and the pin goes nowhere, and the original source is getting no credit.  This matters for several reasons, for one, why would you want a recipe that is just a picture?  If you can’t click on the link to go to the details of the recipe, what is the point of pinning it? Also, the original creator of the recipe is not given any credit and then you just have a mess of people stealing ideas and claiming them as their own.  This is particularly important to bloggers and people with etsy sites.  By clicking on their “pin” you are viewing their site, and this is extremely important because their website is the key to their livelihood.

How are you describing your pin?  When you see a darling little outfit for your soon-to-be baby girl, are you just writing “cute”?  On a picture of Italy are you writing “someday” or “in my dreams”?  If you want to pin to a board titled that, that is just fine, but if you don’t describe your pin with what is in the picture, it won’t be found when someone else types the word “Italy” in the search bar.  Describing your pin makes Pinterest more user-friendly for everyone.

Are you spending hours on Pinterest, pinning anything and everything that looks awesome at the time?  Keep in mind that the people who are following you see everything you pin, so if you spend three hours one afternoon pinning every wedding dress you have ever dreamed of, you are flooding other people’s Pinterest pages with nothing but images of wedding dresses.  Try to pin a few at a time, not a hundred in one day.

What is the difference between “liking” and “pinning”?  Liking a pin is supposed to be a type of holding spot for pins you’re not certain of, and want to come back to later.  For instance, if I see an awesome recipe and don’t have time to make sure that it is linked to the original website, I can like it and come back to it later.

Be an origional pinner!  Don’t just keep pinning what everyone else is.  If you have installed the “pin it” feature in your favorites, whenever you are cruising around on the web, you are able to pin something that gets your attention.  Add some pins of your own!   Did you realize that if you highlight a bit of the text before hitting “pin it” it will automatically show up in your description?  Remember not to highlight too much (for instance an entire recipe) because you want to direct people back to the source of the pin to get more information.

Lastly, remember that this is an online community that is supposed to be fun and helpful for those who use it.  Be polite with your comments, those images are someone’s creation and Pinterest is not a place to bash people and their preferences.  Every one is entitiled to their own opinions and likes and dislikes.

I still have so much to learn about Pinterest, and I’m definitely not perfect when it comes to etiquette myself, but I think that understanding more about it will make the site better for everybody.  I don’t think the creators expected it to explode in the manner that it has, and I can foresee some potential copyright situations cropping up in the future.  So why do I love Pinterest?  For many of the same reasons that you all do.  I am inspired by the things I see, and excited about new ideas and information that I can use.  ALSO, I am promoting my blog.  When I pin one of my own creations, it is with the hope that whoever likes it will be curious enough to click on the link and be led to my blog.  Traffic is what bloggers like me want, because it enables you to grow your blog in the manner that you are intending.

So whether you are pinning something that is very inspiring to you that you see yourself applying to your life in some way….

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Or you’re pinning things a little less realistic….

The choice is yours! Make it your own and have fun with it!  Thanks for coming by!