Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Pinterest ~ Time Suck or Resource Haven?


Pinterest, the virtual pinboard vortex that many of us have been sucked into (guilty, see picture above) has been around for a few years but is fast becoming not just a cool way to share images, sites, links, ideas, recipes and trends but an excellent resource for referrals, site promotion, classroom education, inspiration and collaboration. 

The growth in Pinterest traffic has resulted in a corresponding increase in 'growing pains' - copyright & trademark issues, changes to Pinterest EtiquettePinterest has followed through with updates to their Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy and I've no doubt more changes and updates will be forthcoming. 

I'm no Pinterest expert but it's safe to say I'm an experienced Pinterest black hole explorer and I've followed the Pinterest surge with interest. My tip ... set your alarm :)



Pinterest Etiquette involves pinning from the original source. As a scrapbooker I acknowledge the importance of crediting your sources and in turn being credited for your own creativity. This is highly relevant on Pinterest

  • Re-pinning is great but when you pin or re-pin directly from Google or Tumblr, images are not always linked to the original source. 
  • When you re-pin from others check the link to ensure that the person you've re-pinned from has sourced correctly. If not then find the original project and pin it yourself; yes this requires more work but you're acknowledging the time, effort and love a creator has put into a project or idea. 
  • When pinning from blogs or websites pin from the actual post ... not the home page. It defeats the purpose of pinning if you have to search through hundreds of pages to find instructions or a recipe that is no longer on the homepage. 

For Love & Books has a really informative post about making Pinterest work for your blog;  great ideas that hadn't occurred to me ~ check it out here.

Mandy @ The Literary Life of the Well Read Wife has created a Directory of Book Bloggers on Pinterest for those who want to share their love of books easily and there's also a terrific post on using Pinterest to your blog/site's advantage; well worth checking out.

So ... any Pinterest ideas you'd like to share?? 

You can find me on Pinterest here  ~ feel free to add me or email if you'd like an invite to see what all the fuss is about. 

and of course HAPPY PINNING :)



25 comments:

  1. I am on the fence... I always pin from blogs (never on Pinterest itself...as I am afraid it will lead to it NOT getting back to the original source)... I ALWAYS tell the person (in the comments) that I am pinning their project/lo/card whatever. Everyone I have 'pinned' has told me thanks for pinning their project/lo/card. But sadly, wayyyyyyyyy before Pinterest, we had this little thing on ALL of our computers (still do) called the "BOOKMARK" button. We can bookmark whatever we want onto our 'faves' and reference back to it anytime we want! So to me Pinterest is just a public bookmark! lol!

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    1. True Julie but I find that my bookmarks are now at the point where I scroll and scroll and scroll and never seem to reach the end ... and I can never remember which blog I saw that particular recipe on that I wanted to use ... do you have that problem? and a solution for it LOL or should I just work on my terrible memory ;)

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    2. True --- I sometimes have a hard time finding what I bookmarked, but then again, I can't always find where I put something on Pinterest either! lol!! I was just pointing out that even if they shut down Pinterest, there are still ways for us to save things that inspire us...and no one has ever screamed 'copyright infringement' at us about bookmarking something! lol!!

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    3. That's so true about bookmarking and copyright, if only I could find a better way of organising my bookmarks. They are seriously out-of-control LOL. and really I'm a newb on pinterest so things are still easy to find. Once I started pinning from the original source it became a habit so I'm not finding it too much extra work :) And I didnt think of them closing down Pinterest, then I would lose all that cool stuff LOL

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  2. I go through phases with Pinterest. Some times I spend ages pinning and repinning and then I don't log in for days at a time.

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    1. I'm the same Marg, and the days I've been on for hours I've often pinned next to nothing lol

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  3. I've resisted the temptation of Pinterest so far because I spend way too much time online as it is. But you're persuading me... gah!

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  4. I love Pinterest and sometimes can spend hours on it and then other times, I go on, check what's been pinned recently and then am off in about 5 seconds. I do agree that it's really easy to get lost going from pin to pin and then looking at other similar pins - it's a vicious cycle.

    I just checked out your boards - and now I'm following you! I also scrapbook and crochet and love all the stuff on there for those two.

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    1. following you back Kristin and I repinned some of your crochet finds ... awesome!!

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  5. Ijoined Pinterest but haven't been actibe much - with only a couple boards filled in with a few items, mostly books. I'll have to go back and check to see if the graphics I repinned were from the original source.

    Such a lot of trouble. One wonders if it's worth it. Will have to read the links you gave. Thanks!

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  6. I have avoided getting involved with Pinterest as I feel I already spend more time on line than I really want to and I know it is very addictive. I have concerns about the site in that I have absolutely no idea if any of my work appears there!?

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    1. It can be very addictive Lindy, that's why I set a timer ... otherwise I could get lost on a pinboard, far, far away!

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  7. I am surely breaking all laws when pinning, but well, it's easier just to pin and I do like pintersest. Would be great if I wrote a book, and I do have a story in mind while pinning

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  8. I don't know how I got involved with this Pinterest thing, but I did. I'm following you Teddyree :)

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    1. LOL Yvonne, I'll be by to check out your pinterest boards Yvonne :)

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  9. I use pinterest to track things I like, although I'm getting interested in it to promote my blog. I've just started following your pins!

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    1. That's something new to me too Kylie, I've just started using pinterest to pin my favourite reads and link back to reviews on my blog

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  10. One of the best things about Pinterest is it gave me a way to curate book recommendations on a specific theme for people in my life who aren't book bloggers or avid readers. They don't follow my blog and aren't on GoodReads but they do understand Pinterest and so I set up several boards of recommendations on different subjects (books for winter, the apocalypse, and so on). A lot of the stuff I've written about fairy tales has also ended up on Pinterest in one way or another, so it seemed natural to use it to visually organize research for future fairy tale posts. It's a vicious cycle sometimes!

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  11. I really wish I had the time to learn something new. I barely have time to blog!

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  12. I am a huge Pinterest addict. It is such a time sink but so handy. I've already tried a bunch of recipes and ideas for the kiddos. It's spoiled my daughter because she keeps asking what new experiment or observation I have for her. Keeps me on my Pinterest toes looking for new ideas. lol.

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  13. I have a Pinterest board. I have not been on it for awhile. I would like to update my boards a bit. Maybe get a bit more book blogging oriented too. Going to check out the book blogging directory you mentioned.

    Good etiquette tips...a few that i did not realize when I first started.

    By the way, until this point, i have been using Pinterest mostly as a storage place for ideas and stuff of interest.

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