Could someone explain Pinterest to me?

[overcome]

I don't quite get understand. Do you use the app or website or both?

[sweetsue98]

Funny I just asked my friend to explain the samething to me but I'm still confused!

[n2ou]

Imagine an real life pin board. You post your magazine articles, craft ideas, Christmas present suggestions, anything that you would like to remember/ access later on this board.

Now, transfer this to the online world.

Pinterest!

[SnuggleBuggles]

I use the website. I actually just went through my Facebook account and blocked all apps, including my Pinterest. I still can use the pinterest website and pin things but I (am hoping) that I'm not doing it as an app that might do more than I give it permission to do (or, give it permission to do deep down in the fine print). I have no idea if that makes sense. :)

Beth

[Tondi G]

I still can't seem to get things to pin on my "board"... I don't get it!

[wencit]

Here is a really good article I read about how to use Pinterest:

http://thedailydigi.com/pinterest-101-a-tutorial/

Essentially, Pinterest is a virtual online pinboard. You see something you like on the Internet and want to remember it for later, so you "pin" it onto your own board on Pinterest. The twist is that you can also see (or what the site refers to as "follows") what your friends (as well as total strangers) have been pinning, which is why they prefer you to log in with a Facebook account -- so they can access your friends and their boards. To get the most out of the experience, you want to "follow" people who share the same interests as you. For example, if I follow "Jane" and she pins stuff on her boards regarding bowling, underwater basket weaving, and pole dancing -- none of which I am personally interested in -- I'm not going to get as much out of the site than if I follow "Janet" who pins stuff like food, photography, and gift ideas for boys (all of my personal interests). Does that make sense?

I would start browsing around the site at anything that interests you and start poking around people's boards. It's all public, so you can see who has interests that match yours and "follow" them to begin with. I would recommend you go to the top of the page after logging in and click on "Everything" to show all the things that are being pinned, then just kind of browse around from there.

Hope this helps clear up the confusion a bit!

ETA: I use the website only, not the app.

[tny915]

I think of Pinterest as a way you can organize your internet bookmarks. I have a pinboard for sewing tips and patterns, a board for recipes I want to try, and one for craft ideas I can do with the kids. Instead of having to keep a bunch of folders on my browser favorites menu with all these bookmarks, I keep all of these websites pinned on my Pinterest boards.

I installed a "Pin It" button on my internet browser. Then when I find a website that I want to bookmark, I click the Pin It button, and it saves directly to my Pinterest board. I think the Pin It button is required to get your boards to update.

I love Pinterest. I didn't get it at first either, so it did take me a while to get the hang of it. I don't link it to my Facebook because I prefer to not use apps on my Facebook. I do have the iPad app, but I use Pinterest primarily on my laptop from the website.

[brittone2]

I love Pinterest. For me, it takes the place of bookmarking many sites, with the advantage of having them arranged visually.

I wasn't great about organizing my bookmarks but I do a good job of keeping my pins organized. I pin things to HSing topics (HS science for both kids, art projects, math ideas and games for 7 yos, etc. Any number of topics). I also pin things like "running the household" or "paint ideas." I have pinboards for each kid for Christmas (basically my own notes to self on products, prices, things i'm contemplating). I pin outfit ideas and things to a "my style" pinboard.

You can add a "pin it" tab to your tool bar so you can pin most images from websites you visit. You can also repin the pins from others that you are interested in.

I :love-retry: pinterest. It really does work well for me. I am much more likely to organize my pins vs. bookmarks.

[happymom]

So when you pin something, what shows up on the board exactly? A picture? A link?

[ellies mom]

So when you pin something, what shows up on the board exactly? A picture? A link?

A small picture shows up and then you click on the picture and it sends you to the website.

[mjmamma]

It's a great way to organize your online 'thoughts'. The Pin It button is key. You set up 'Boards' with titles. I have a Lust List (for items I want to buy), Kiddie Crafts (crafts I want to try), Home Inspiration (decorating ideas), Fav Products, etc.
It's pretty much a visual way of collecting your bookmarks-at-a-glance which is much more useful to me. It's fun to see other's postings and ideas too.

[MontrealMum]

I love Pinterest and I'm totally hooked! I use the website, not the app. I think of the pins as visual bookmarks. It's totally replaced all those pages that I've been folding down in magazines or ripping out entirely...and then never doing anything with :p

For instance, I'm going on a trip in Dec. with some friends and I've pinnned some of the things that I'm thinking of packing. My friends have pinnned their virtual choices as well, and we can all view them and comment on them.

I also use it as a sort of shopping list since the pin will take you back to the original website. Mind you, I'm not buying everything I'm pinning!

And I've used it to comparison shop for winter boots. Seeing them all in one place, and being able to quickly compare has been very useful.

[hwin708]

So when you pin something, what shows up on the board exactly? A picture? A link?


A small picture shows up and then you click on the picture and it sends you to the website.And you can label the picture however you want. A word, a paragraph (or twelve). Whatever makes it easier for you to identify this picture and why you pinned it. Or you can just call it nothing.
You have to put the pin on a board, though, so it forces some order, even to the lazy (like me) who would pin picture after picture without any order for when I have to go back and find the pins later.

OH - and when you want to label something, you can just highlight the text on the page and when you hit the "Pin It" button, the highlighted text will automatically be copied as your picture's label.

Also, since it was discussed earlier - you can "disconnect" your Pinterest from your Facebook account entirely after you've signed up. Just go to your "Settings" on Pinterest.

[hwin708]

So when you pin something, what shows up on the board exactly? A picture? A link?
Here's a pic from the link wencit gave of what your boards would look like:
http://i43.tinypic.com/2zgaruc.png

Then you click on one of those boards to see all your pins in it. Here's what one of that lady's boards (http://pinterest.com/ktscrapbooklady/sweets-and-treats/) looks like:
http://i39.tinypic.com/j0e2qv.jpg

If you click on one of those pins (pictures), it will take you to just that pin, where you can also see any comments people might have left on the pin (sometimes, this can be helpful, like when you are looking for someone to ID a clothing designer, for example). Then you can click on the pin and it will take you to the exact page you pinned it. This is one reason why Pinterest tries to stress the importance of pinning things from their proper place. Like if you are reading a blog, make sure you go to the post itself before pinning a picture, or else you will just be linking back to the front page of the blog, which, obviously, changes daily.