California Crafters Club of Etsy: March 2015

An informal poll of the team revealed that the social media site they're most curious about is Pinterest. Which makes sense as Pinterest is where DIYers spend most of their time, whether their interests are crafty, decor, cooking, or anything else where images are shared.

What is Pinterest

Pinterest is a virtual corkboard which can be shared with anyone world wide. It's also a handy bookmarking site, where you can easily store links to various websites and retrieve them via the images associated with them. And because of the sharing aspect, you can easily find other like images through various searches.

How does this thing work?

On one of my journeys through the Internet, I stumble on an image--a funny meme, an awesome knitting pattern, a scrumptious dessert, or an informative infographic. I want to save it so that I can access it later, so I "pin it".

Pins can be saved to "boards" which can be organized however you wish. You can title them, describe them, and allow others to pin to your board as well. Any and/or all of your boards can be "followed" by any other Pinterest user unless you make the board private.

You can originate pins from anywhere on the Internet, but you can also "repin" images from other pinners. This is the social aspect of the site. You can browse various categories or you can find pinners whose taste you admire.

Following is how you keep up-to-date with a pinner. You find someone who pins the best chocolate desserts. After perusing the board, you want to know when new desserts are added. So, you follow the board.

Anyone you follow will pop up in your feed. You'll see their latest pins. And anyone who follows you will see your pins in their feed.

But beware. This may seem harmless. Once you start looking, you'll find hours of your life disappear and you'll wonder where they went.

Some Tips:

Make sure to pin from the original website when possible. (This gives the image owner the traffic and is just good manners.)
From blogs, use the URL for the individual post, not the blog as a whole. (Three months later when you want to locate the actual image or something that corresponds to that image, the individual post will be lost to you, and you may never find it again.)
When repinning, check what website the pin links to. Some pinners have found ways to link images to things not associated with those images...
You can type in a description on any of your pins. Do it to help you remember something about why you saved it.
You can also "like" pins from other pinners and comment on those pins. This is another way to engage with other pinners.
You can hide any board you wish, but all are public unless you specifically hide them.

There is so much to Pinterest. The best way to to learn is to check it out. And while you're at it, make sure to check out (and follow!) our team members: