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Thursday, January 6, 2011

pinterest: make your bulletin board social

Are you constantly bookmarking? Or leaving tabs open with things you like or that inspire you? Me too. Now there's a solution to all those bookmarked sites getting buried and lost.

I had heard of Pinterest before, but only just started really using it myself. It's basically a virtual bulletin board. You can "pin" things that you like from the Internet and have them forever on your boards. What's really great is the source gets saved so you can go back to the source for additional inspiration or give credit where it is due. Lovely.

So how exactly does it work?

First you get invited. Easy. Just let me know if you want in.
You start with a set of boards, but you can easily change the names of them to suit your needs.
Then you install a button in your browser's toolbar so that you can "pin" from anywhere on the net.
Then you get pinning! When you see a photo of something you particularly love (for whatever reason) you simply click "pin it," choose the photo you want to pin, select the board you want to pin it to and write a short description.

This is a social network. You can follow other people's boards and you can follow theirs. This allows us to share our inspiration with each other. Our reach gets wider. We see more. We learn more. This is the world in which we live.

Pinterest is definitely better explained through visual. Here's a peek at my main page where I can see other people's pins. You can also switch to "everything" mode where you see all the pins posted to Pinterest, rather than just those of who you follow.
Next, here are MY boards. The boards I use most often include "just so cute," "smart ideas" and "Favorite Places and Spaces." Personally I use Pinterest mainly to look for DIY ideas and home decor ideas, but the site could be used for anything. If you wanted to use it to keep track of recipes, your boards could be titled "desserts," "main dishes," "appetizers," etc. Or if you were to use it to curb your online shopping addiction, you could label them "tops," "pants," "electronics," etc. That's the great part- it's totally customizable to suit your needs! Love.

To give you an idea of what kind of beauty you can find on Pinterest, here's a peek at my pins.

So what do you think? Can you make room for one more social network this year? Organize! Let me know if you need an invite.
Small disclaimer: Pinterest didn't ask me to or pay me to write this. I genuinely love it. When I need a few minutes to myself, it's a great place to get lost.

12 comments:

Sara said...

yes PLEASE! This is exactly what I need! I just started putting together an inspiration binder (inspired by your binder that you have), but that's for magazines that I subscribe too. I was toying around with printing out recipes, crafts, etc that I want to try... but that's such a waste of paper!

PinksArt said...

I would so appreciate an invitation. This looks like something that would be so much fun and a great creative outlet!

PinksArt said...

I'd love to receive an invitation, this looks like so much fun! I will have to check out the inspiration binder idea. I kept one years ago in a 2 inch binder. It was filled with beautiful pictures from magazines that I had collected for ages!

Jaimie said...

@GraceNote- I want to send you an invite, but can't find an email address! Send me one and I will most DEFINITELY invite you!

Jennifer Imus said...

I'd love to get an invite!! Thanks so much!!

Unknown said...

I have been waiting to be invited and can't get the love. Can you please do the honours?

Anonymous said...

Hi Jaimie, I love pinterest. I've been drooling over it. An invitation would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much.
Karin
ps And could you please provide a link to your boards?
kvanheerwaarden (( at )) yahoo.com.au

Donna Taylor said...

I'd love an invite, please: donmark@rogers.com

Elizabeth said...

I'd love an invite! Let me know what info you might need :)

Unknown said...

Hi! Are you still able to give invites for pinterest?? I would LUV to find out how! Thanks :)

Abbey Salinger said...

I would love an invite...allisonleak@hotmail.com please

Anonymous said...

I would love to be invited to pinterest. My email is jennysied@msn.com