Pinterest: An Internet Addiction!

Have you tried Pinterest? Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, even blogging this time of year, none of that gets much of my attention anymore, but Pinterest… Pinterest is a different story. Pinterest is the newest social media platform where users can share info by pinning things that interest them. I confess that I am addicted to this website!

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Here’s the way it works: Pinterest allows you to have your own online scrapbook or bulletin board, with as many “boards” or sections as you want, about any subject you want. See an interesting craft or new plant online that you want to remember? You no longer have to bookmark it and bury it within hundreds of text links in your favorites folders. Now, you just have to click a photo on the site, type in a caption or other bit of info if you’d like, and “pin” it to one of your boards. From then on, you have a visual link to that website. Your individual pins can be edited, moved to other boards, or deleted at any time. Each one of your boards is like a page in a scrapbook, and you can have page after page of inspiration, ideas, photos of gorgeous gardens, etc etc, whatever you want.

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An example of one of my pins, this one is from my “Garden Style” board, an image of Butchart Gardens at night

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Looking through my Pinterest boards is so much more pleasing than digging through my dozens and dozens of Bookmark folders, trying to find a particular idea on a page I linked to at some time over the past fifteen years. No longer do I have to save emails filled with links and typed ideas and tips I have collected on the internet. Now, when I see a beautiful plant photo, a good gardening idea, a recipe or a craft I would like to try, I just “pin” it to one of my boards. I love this!

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Another pin from my Garden Style board, decorating a fence with flowerpots

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I don’t even have to search the internet for interesting pages to pin. I can also at any time look through thousands of other peoples’ pins, organized by “Everything”, “Most Popular”, “Videos”, or other people I choose to “follow”. I can filter the pins by searching for a specific subject, or by choosing a category. Some of the categories include Gardening, Home and Decor, DIY & Crafts, Education, Film, Music, Fitness, Food & Drink, Geek, History, Humor, Apparel, Pets, Photography, Science, Nature, even Products you like or have purchased… the list goes on and on. If I see something interesting on another person’s pin, I can “Like” it (which saves it onto a separate board of just my “likes”), or I can “repin” it to one of my categorized boards. I have only been on Pinterest a short time, and already have lots of boards and pins and likes, so many unique and brilliant ideas– it’s addictive! Here’s a screenshot of some of my Pinterest boards, click on photo to view larger:

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Sherry’s Place on Pinterest

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Pinterest is growing quickly, and once you register, there may be a waiting list for an invitation to join. I only had to wait for about 5 or 6 days before I received the email but have heard that some people have had to wait up to two weeks or longer before receiving their registration invitation. After registering, you will receive an email with links to sign up using either your Facebook or Twitter login. If you don’t have either of those, just go register at twitter.com and remember your username and password. (You don’t have to use your twitter account, just sign up in order to be able to get an account at Pinterest.) You can even sign up at twitter with a fake name if you don’t feel comfortable with using your real name. I used my blog name as my twitter username, and so that’s what my pinterest address is:
http://pinterest.com/sherrys_place/

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Once you’re in, click on your username at the top right of the screen and choose “Settings“. Here’s where you will be able to fill in your profile, choose your email settings, upload an image to use as your avatar, etc. You should also make sure the links to twitter and facebook are turned “Off” — unless you want your pins to be added to facebook or tweeted to your followers. Save your profile settings and then under the “About” link to the left of your username, select the “Pin It” button and follow the instructions there to install it to your browser. You will definitely need the Pin It button in order to quickly pin images from webpages you want to save. You can also click on the “Help” link for more information.

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If you want to join Pinterest and don’t want to wait, I can send you an invitation through my account and you will receive it without having to wait. Just leave a comment here on this post and ask me to send you an invite. Make sure you fill in the “Email” link with the email address you used to sign up for twitter or facebook (your email address will not be shown on the blog with your comment). You can also send me a message through the Contact form (linked at the top of my blog), but I will probably see the blog comment faster than getting the message through the form.

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As soon as gardening season starts again, I’ll be posting much more often here and Pinterest may not take up so much of my attention then, but right now, I sure am enjoying this new interest. Happy Pinning! :)

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More info:
What is Pinterest?

Web World: What Is Pinterest?

Pinterest breaks traffic records for retailers

USA Today: How To Use Pinterest’s Pinboard For The Web

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