Who's Using Pinterest?
Pinterest is attracting a lot of attention from a lot of people. As of December, 2011, Pinterest had 7.5 million users, up from fewer than a half million just six months prior. (That’s a more growth rate than even Facebook had at that point in their development.)
More important, people who use Pinterest are really engaged with the site. Users spend an average of 88 minutes per month on the Pinterest site; this compares to 5 minutes per month for Google+ users, 16 minutes/month for LinkedIn users, and 24 minutes/month for Twitter users.
As to who is using Pinterest, at this point in time it’s kind of a girl thing. Pinterest users are primarily female (58%), mainly between the ages of 24-44 (59%), and have incomes between $30,000 and $100,000. This explains Pinterest’s popularity among “mommy bloggers” and the arts community.
These demographics also make Pinterest attractive to businesses, who are increasingly using Pinterest to market their brands and products online. Already, Pinterest is driving more traffic to company websites and blogs than YouTube, Google+, and LinkedIn combined.
What Are People Pinning?
Pinterest fosters visual sharing, of both images and videos. That means lots of photos, of course, but also recipes, slogans, and other items that can be presented visually.
Some users think of Pinterest as an idea factory. These people post pictures of things they’d like to purchase, or of designs they’d like to implement in their home. That means lots of photos of dream bathrooms, designer clothing, fashion accessories, and the like.
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Figure 3 A plethora of popular pins on Pinterest
You’ll also find a lot of photos of food, accompanied by step-by-step recipes. Also popular are photos of crafts and other do-it-yourself projects, as well as collectible items, such as figurines and vintage items.
Speaking of photographs, Pinterest is becoming a big hangout for professional and amateur photographers alike. Where better to share the photos you take than on the pinboards of a visual social network?
For that matter, many people use Pinterest to share family photos, much like a photoblog or online scrapbook. It’s as easy to upload a photo to pin as it is to pin something you find on the web.
Bottom line, you can pin anything you find interesting. If you’re into classic TV shows, pin cast photos to your pinboard. If you collect vintage toys, pin photos of those toys. If you’re a fashion buff, pin pictures of this season’s hottest designer clothes. If you’re into cars, pin beauty shots of your favorite models. If you’re into fine dining, pin pictures of your favorite dishes. If you’re looking to spread cheer, pin funny or inspiring photos. The sky’s the limit.
Should You Check It Out?
Is Pinterest a site you should be using? Probably so.
If you like to share items you find funny or interest or just inspire you, Pinterest is the place to be. People already post a lot of images to Facebook; it’s easier to do this on Pinterest, and even easier to view other people’s pins. You can find an eyeful of interesting items when you browse your friends’ pinboards, and they, in turn, can get a lot of inspiration from what you pin.
It helps that Pinterest is so easy to use. It focuses on one thing only (images), which makes it both more focuses and simpler than Facebook is today. Pinning a new item takes just a click of the mouse, and browsing your friends’ latest pins is something you can over your morning coffee.
Will Pinterest replace Facebook? Probably not replace it, but certainly supplement it. You can’t share long text messages on Pinterest (it’s for images only), nor can you play games and run apps as you can on Facebook. So you still need Facebook for that sort of thing.
But for purely visual sharing of things you find interesting, Pinterest is the way to go. Set up a (free) account, start following a few friends, and see how easy it is to find fun and useful stuff. You can then start pinning a few things yourself, and keep going as fast and as far as you like.
It’s certainly interesting to go Pinteresting!