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What is Pinterest Anyway?


You've likely heard about people obsess about Pinterest so you're curious about what it is and how to use it. Pinterest is a visual virtual board site that lets you "pin" or collect images from the web. You can create boards to help you categorize your images and add descriptions for why you pinned them in the first place.  ("This raised garden bed would look great in the backyard," or "This is a fun Father's Day gift idea.") Most of these images link back to the original website where they appeared so you can easily access them later. 

When most people hear "Pinterest" they probably think about recipes, weddings, and hairstyles. While it's true that many pinners use the site to gather inspiration in these areas, the site is also flooded with teachers, universities, designers, nonprofits, businesses, real estate brokers, news outlets, and more. I mainly use pinterest for recipes or design ideas for my house, but my husband is a designer and he pins designs he'd like to use for inspiration. Everyone uses Pinterest differently and it's up to you to figure out what works best for you.

Go ahead and join Pinterest today! You can connect your account to Facebook or choose to keep it separated and sign up with an email. I follow some of my Facebook friends on Pinterest but I don't really use it to interact with anyone. Once you join, follow some boards. Select categories from the list such as nature, geek, design, science, or technology. This will get your started, but you'll find more boards you want to follow as you explore. 

After you get yourself situated, think about starting your own boards to organize items you're interested in. Some examples may be "For the Home," "Books Worth Reading," or "Recipes". You can even get more specific and create boards such as "Vegan Desserts," "Birthday Ideas for Kevin," or "Home Office Ideas". Once you create your boards you can begin pinning items to them. You can also invite others to pin to your boards as well. My husband and I share boards for backyard ideas and wedding ideas from before we got married. You can even have a secret board that allows your pins to be hidden from everyone but you. I did this with hairstyle ideas before I chopped off all my hair because I didn't want anyone know I was going to do it. 

There will likely come a time when you wish every image on the internet had a Pin It button and not just the images on Pinterest. Lucky for you, you can use a Pinterest extension and instal a Pin It button right on your browser. This allows you to pin an image or an article from any external site.

Lastly, you can upload your own pins. Say you have an image from an awesome dinner you concocted or a great decoration idea from a party you attended. You can upload your image, pick its board, and add a description. Others will be able to repin your image as well. 

I'm not really part of the social aspect of Pinterest but you can add friends and follow more boards to attract new followers. You can even get friendly by liking and commenting on other pins, too.

So get started today! Pinterest can be a lot of fun and be used in so many different ways.

Comments

  1. JessJune 4, 2020 at 3:37 PM

    Pinterest buddy! LOL...I have shared boards with my husband but he still can't figure out how to use it. We share boards about cooking and projects for the house. I have secret ones too. I even used to upload my own images from my Etsy business and people Pinned them to their own boards.... Now I just Pin stuff for teaching and my nails and such....now I'm boring :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. Erin HajdukJune 4, 2020 at 7:47 PM

    I have found that following a bunch of influencers and brands that you admire can really curate your Pinterest feed if you are using it for personal reasons. In my opinion, Pinterest isn't really a social media site because so many people use it to try and flesh out an ideal of what they want their lives to look like, instead of how their lives actually are. They do not use it to try and keep up with friends.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LeahJune 5, 2020 at 9:45 AM

      I used to use Pinterest to keep up with friends. I had a very active group of friends on there who would share pins they found that were relevant to teaching. We chatted through the messaging system and were always on the lookout for things to share with each other. Now I'm much more of a lurker and only pin things that are of interest to me. If I do find a pin I want to share, I text it to my friends instead of using the messaging system on Pinterest because I don't think people use it that often.

      Delete
    2. IlvermonyJune 6, 2020 at 5:17 PM

      Interesting take, Erin! But, I felt its like a window shopping experience with your friends. You look around, go to stores and browse, identify shopping that you would love to do, but might not buy it in the end. ITs still sharing an experience with friends. Thats what I feel makes it a social media tool. Thoughts?

      Delete

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