If
you've picked up a newspaper, surfed or watched TV recently, you've
probably heard about Pinterest – the online photo pinboard and
community.
The
new social media kid on the block is growing so quickly that its
popularity has been touted as “Pinsanity”.
The
moniker for its success is well deserved; the site has more than 11
million unique visitors, and it's growing. It gets more referral
traffic than YouTube, Linkedin and Google+. The demographics of the
site are interesting too. Most of its users are young women.
But
what's the appeal? Think of it as an online scrapbook or inspiration
board – minus time spent rifling through magazines and newspapers
and cutting and pasting. You can share pins, re-pin from others and
organize your boards by themes such as food, travel, home decor and
personal style. Users can pin items from websites they like, using
“Pin It” buttons on their browsers.
In
the wake of Pinterest’s success, many large corporations are
developing their own Pinterest presence. Nordstrom, HGTV, ModCloth,
General Electric and Whole Foods Market are among the brands
currently using the site. Small businesses also can make use of it to
unveil new items or advertise a service.
There
may be a fly in the ointment, however. Some web watchers have
concerns over copyright violations, although the legal community
believes Pinterest, like YouTube and Facebook, is protected by U.S.
legislation, as long as it responds quickly to copyright complaints.
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