Another Post About Pinterest.

Jul 5, 2012 | 4 comments

I’ve written about Pinterest before.

I introduced you to This Thing Called Pinterest. I wrote an open letter about Pinning to Dear Pinners….

I’ve shared with you my own Pinterest account, and updated when I create new boards.

Today I discovered that not all my own Pins were linked accurately. Of course, as a blogger/writer, it’s important that my articles are attached to the Pins I create for them. So I spent about thirty minutes reviewing and correcting. It wasn’t that bad. In fact, it was a little fun seeing Pins from months ago that I’d forgotten about.

I tweeted about today’s revelation, which brought about the conversation “What exactly is Pinterest, and how do you use it?”

The best way to describe it is it’s a digital scrapbook. It’s a spaceless way to store your ideas, suggestions, likes and adventures. If it’s online and you like it, you can Pin it.

It’s easy to get an account. Typically, you need an invitation from a friend or you can request one directly from Pinterest. Once you have an account, you can Pin one of two ways.

You can search Pinterest itself. For example, in their search bar type “coffee” and you’ll be inundated with a mass assortment of flavors, cups, stores, ideas, stories… when you see one you like, move your cursor over it and you’ll see buttons appear: “Repin”, “Like”, “Comment”. You can pick and choose which actions you want. If you choose to “Repin”, a new window will pop up and you can select which of your Boards you want it Pinned to.

The other way to Pin is to download their “Pin It” Button. It’s a small download that you set in your internet toolbar. When you see something online that you like, you click your “Pin It” button, and it asks you which picture to Pin, and to which Board.

Your boards are your categories. Pinterest sets up a few to get you started. You can edit, delete, and add your own. My friend Keri has a board strictly dedicated to all things “Purple”. I have 36 Boards ranging from writing ideas to recipes to people and places and even a bucket list!

There are a few things to remember when Pinning:

  • The Pinterest Terms and Privacy are very clear that you cannot Pin any copyright material. Many professional photographers have removed their photos due to this requirement. An alternate option is to include a watermark on your own photos: an unremovable mark that indicates you hold the copyrights.
  • I pin my photos to Pinterest because I know they link back to my Blog. And traffic is currency in the Blogosphere. This doesn’t give others the right to claim my work as their own, but it does give you the right to Pin and share and say, “Hey, this is worthwhile stuff.”
  • Laura asked if you need to get permission before Pinning. I’ve checked around and the main consensus is, that’s sometimes impossible. In the digital media world in which we live, everything is everywhere. You can’t always track back to the source. You should try, definitely. But if it’s already online, it’s shareable.
  • You can’t Pin personal photos from Facebook or your computer. It has to be already online.
  • Pinterest has very easy-to-understand Etiquette guidelines. Their Terms are written for every person to understand, not a lot of Legaleeze.

I love the idea of storing ideas online instead of odd-shaped magazine clippings stored in paper boxes. I love that I can put the same Pin on several boards. How often have you had to decide whether a clipping should be placed in  “Recipe” or “Holiday”? Is a Dictionary a “Book” or “Writer Wishlist” item? Is a great blog article “inspiring”, “faith-based” or simply “A Good Blog”? With Pinterest, you don’t have to decide. You can Pin the same article to as many Boards as you have.

I also discovered that to get to the main article, you needn’t “backtrack” through other Pinners. Just click on the Pin itself. It will enlarge on your computer screen. Click again on the Pin, and you should be directed to the original posting whether it be from a blog, company, photographer’s page, or wherever it originated. It’s important to make sure that your Pins link back to the source as much as possible. It’s only fair to give credit where credit is due.

So. Are you ready to starting Pinning?

Just click. Pin. And share.

You’ll be glad you did. (And so will I!)

And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!

Sweeten my tea and share:

Dear Pinners…

Mar 24, 2012 | 0 comments

I love Pinterest. I really do.

I signed up with the intent to carefully monitor my activity. But after the first two weeks, that’s gone out the window. Now, over a month later, next to facebook and my blog, Pinterest holds my digital interest more than any other website.

It’s my own personal, public digital clipping source. If I had to clip magazines to get all the information my Pinterest boards hold, I’d be able to pay my utilities with the paper recycling cash.

But I have a bone to pick with other Pinners, and it’s this: cite your source! I’ve read several posts from photographers who deleted their Pin Boards for copyright reasons. I understand that. I wouldn’t want my copyright works to be out there for anyone and everyone to take.

I do admit, I’m as bad as the next person when it comes to repinning from a friend. And I don’t have issues pinning a relaxing vacation site or a frog.

But if you were clipping from magazines, wouldn’t you want to know what store or cookbook or magazine to find more information from? If you have a wishlist for others to look at, don’t you want them to know where to get the goods?

I just spent 10 minutes trying to track down what was a great picture of a stockpile pantry with the promise of obtaining similar results without extreme couponing. So I clicked on it. But there was no information. So I clicked on the “via ________” link, which took me to that person’s source. Then to that person’s source. Then so on and so on.

I rabbit-trailed a back-up of more than ten – yes, ten – sources; and still none of them brought me to the information I sought. I finally gave up.

Now, I admit it’s fun to just have a pictoral collage of pretty rooms and fancy frames on the wall. I have a board “People I’d Love to Meet” which is self-explanatory.

But when it comes to a garden flower, a craft or a product on a wishlist, I want the whole information. Pinterest is now my source for clipping ideas and how-to’s. But that’s worthless to me if I don’t actually have the directions! It’s like showing the front of a haircut to my stylist and letting her figure out the rest without any other input… I could end up with a mullet!

Trust me. You want me to have all the information possible. You really, really do.

Without citing the original source, it’s almost plagiarism upon plagiarism. Pretty soon, no one will be able to verify anything. And I really like to verify my sources. I like the details. I like originality.

I can also only hope, as a blogger/writer/publisher, that anyone who pins links to my work, will actually pin links to my work. How else will others find me? How else can I build a credible business reputation?

Now here’s the flip side of that coin: it’s really hard to track the original source once a pin has been repinned. And I don’t have time to track down the original pin source. As, I’m sure, do you. Does that make me a hypocrite?

What do you think about Pinterest? Do you respect the source when you pin? Do you think there’s an absolute answer to this question?

And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!

Sweeten my tea and share: