It seems as though as soon as you’ve mastered one of the nuances of Facebook, they mix things up and throw another feature or sidebar on the site. The latest installment you may have seen on your newsfeed is when somebody “pins” something via Pinterest. When one of your friends answers a word right on Wheel of Fortune and brags to the world about it that’s easily explainable but one question you might have had is “What the heck is Pinterest.”

”Teach me more of this Pinterest…Tutor!”
”Gee Whiz Mr. Pinhead we’ve been over it 8 times.”

Pinterest is the latest line of social networking and this application has it’s own little twist because it’s mainly an image browsing site. People can browse through images and if something catches their eye they hit the “pin this” icon and it’s saved to their pinboard. Types of things that get pinned include crafts, hair styles, outfits, and events.

The aim of Pinterest is to connect people through things. As you’re browsing through people’s pinboards, you might find that you have a lot of likes in common with a certain person and you can then follow them. You’ll then be notified whenever this person pins something new and you’ll be in the loop on their general pinning activity. Also, you can recommend something to friends with the share option, which posts your pin information to Facebook or Twitter.

Pinterest For Dudes

Of the 12 million plus Pinterest users, approximately 85% are females. Guys on Facebook might have a hard time fathoming just what Pinterest is. I always found it easy to assimilate if you’re cruising web sites and find a rare picture of former attorney general Janet Reno in a bikini, you’d “pin it” so that other dudes could easily see it. Basically Pinterest takes the place of the old process of sending an email with picture attachments every time you scoured on unfounded bikini pictures. Common things that a guy might pin include new beer recipes, tool auctions, or weekend projects.

History Of Pinterest

Pinterest was created in 2009 and has quickly become one of the fastest growing social networking applications ever invented. As stated earlier, it’s mostly used by women but more and more guys are starting to use it…which will inevitably lead to Pinterest’s downfall. You can join Pinterest by linking your account with your Twitter or Facebook account (Facebook linking requires switching to the timeline) or by receiving an invite from a friend who is already on board. You can also request an invitation via the Pinterest website. You’ll find out that Pinterest is pretty easy to use as it has a lot of similarities to Facebook including the Pin Feed (newsfeed) and tastemakers, which is Pinterest recommended content.

Website owners and internet marketers are even having success with Pinterest as a traffic generation method. It is proving to be a big hit! Pinterest is now on most webmasters social media checklist.

If you plan on joining Pinterest, remember their creed to “Be Respectful, Be Authentic, Credit Sources, Report Objectionable Content, and Tell Us How We Can Improve.” Unfortunately those Janet Reno bikini pictures might break a couple of those rules. All in all, Pinterest is a great way to network with friends and learn some new styles and crafts at the same time. I think Charlie Sheen said it best that connecting people through things is “PINNING.”