Pinterest - To Pin or Not to Pin

Pinterest - My new time suck.......like I need one.  Love it.  For those not on, it is basically an online magazine where you can input your interests and then 'pins' come up with those interests- recipes, home design, fashion and shopping, etc. You can then post, pin, items that you would like to save on to your boards so you can save and refer back to.  It really is all your favorite magazines rolled into one, without the ads.  It is a great tool for someone getting married, remodeling a kitchen, wanting to change hairstyles, etc.  You can create a board, let's say 'brides maids' and then when you see an image of colors, or dresses or flowers you pin it on this particular board and then can refer back to the board and your wedding planner can refer to the board so he/she can have an idea of what your style/theme/thoughts are.  Another example of how you can use your board, and how you can share with others- remodeling a room.  A construction company or Remodeling Company can access the boards of their clients who are on Pinterest and looks at what they have posted and then can create a design and layout based on running themes/color schemes/design styles that their client has posted.  The list goes on and on as to how you can use Pinterest.   

But .... as with anything, there are more then a few things that could be tweaked a bit.

Tweak #1- Copyright issues.  People can pin, but only if allowed by the website, right on to Pinterest.  When you click on the pin it will take you to the website.  Awesome way to get additional traffic, who wouldn't allow pinners to pin?  The other way people pin is by copying and pasting.  Now that is the issue.  If someone then clicks on the pin the original source will not be sited.  Huge potential for copyright issues.

Tweak #2 - You have no control over who follows you, or stopping comments on a pin you have commented on, or comments on your posts.  Again, not too much of a problem but when you have the masses who follow Pinterest, problems will come up.  For example, from personal experience.  A woman by the name of Ashley posted something entertaining, but snarky, about Karma.  I agreed with her comment but also added another comment with a different view point.  Another member, Jon, said that he completely disagreed with Karma and wishing bad luck on others.  Both, Jon and I got a tongue lashing from Ashley saying that if we didn't love her comment we shouldn't have commented on her post.  She got rather nasty with Jon, and he then reciprocated, and everyone who had commented had to be included on this rather nasty exchange, with a few others joining in.  I am sure no one enjoyed this.  Then to top things off, Ashely deleted several of her comments and all of her nasty comments so now it looks like Jon was a complete jerk whose comments were completely out of line.   Other then reporting them I could not remove myself from this list once I had commented.  Now, I rarely comment.  I would love to be taken off Ashley's thread.

Tweak #3 - Related to Tweak #2.  So many people on Pinterest are so sensitive.  Why post if you are so fragile?   It is a Social Networking Site with thousands of members!  Not everyone is going to agree with you.  Again, referring back to #2 - Ashley's pin was a wood painting "Karma, I have a list of people you missed" 


My post on her pin was "I believe in Karma but I also believe that those that are mean and nasty to those around them don't need bad Karma as they already have something nasty going on in their lives and that is why they try to pass it on. Maybe wish them peace and happiness?"  To this Ashley told me to stay off her wall and not to comment if I disgreed with her pins.   Nice.    I think maybe if you are so irritated about what others think about what you believe in/pin,  Pinterest is not for you.  Ashley is not the only one who bites back when someone says mild things like 'this is inaccurate', 'I don't agree with this'.  As long as someone isn't nasty then what is the problem?  This is a Social Networking Site not your private journal.


Tweak #4.  When you join you are automatically given others to follow to start you off.  Great idea but it seems to me that those that are given to you are popular within the Pinterest community but may not be someone that you would follow based on your interests, area, etc.  Maybe a bit more having to do with why you are on and not just who may be followed by many.  I would even rather have a random selection as those who are followed by many will continue to get others selected to follow them as they continue to have their numbers increased by Pinterest and not necessarily by their ability to attract followers based on interests.  Follow me?

I am sure the staff at Pinterest are continuing to improve, especially as the numbers of followers has exploded in recent months.  At this point the benefits of Pinterest greatly outweigh my frustrations so I will continue to keep on pinning..... but only on my own wall!