So I recently stumbled into the world of Pinterest. Given the multitude of other social media sites, I couldn’t but wonder why we needed yet another means of social networking. The hype surroudning Pinterest as one of the fastest growing sites on the net, got my attention and made me curious. I waited all of two days for the invitation to join and now I’m addicted.
For those not acquainted with Pinterest, it’s essentially an image sharing site. Videos can also be pinned. These pictures can be captured and pinned to your board from anywhere on the web with just one click. Awesome! You can also upload images you want to share directly from your hard-drive or phone etc. Even more awesome!
So what’s the big deal? Tumblr and Twitter and Facebook and Myspace and all these other social sharing sites already allow image/video sharing. Pinterest isn’t special there but is special in that the content is meant to be publicly visible, so you can see what others are looking at from all over the world, perfect strangers, family or friends. You can follow anyone you find interesting without risking sharing too much personal information (unlike Facebook). On Pinterest, who you are isn’t the focus, what you’re sharing is.
I went a bit crazy in the first hour on the site and pinned like crazy to a few boards: Favourite Books, Favourite Films, Awesome Music Videos… there’s no limit to what you can share. Aside from being fun, and a great way to procrastinate when I should be editing/writing/cleaning/doing other stuff in general, Pinterest offers a unique opportunity for writers.
Just this week, thanks to YA Highway, I was thinking about the images associated with my WIP and how best to collect those images. Hello, Pinterest! By creating a board for my WIP, I can already start sharing my ideas and build an interest and following for the story. When it comes to publishing that book, there’s already a platform waiting for the cover reveal, waiting for any and all content associated with the book, desperately waiting (hopefully) to buy the book. Pinterest if used correctly can be a powerful marketting tool. I’m still learning the ropes, but I intend to make the most of my new found image boards.
Are you on Pinterest? If you are, leave me a link to your page and I’ll check you out.
