Pin etiquette
The guidelines below are based on collective input from people using Pinterest. These are suggestions to help keep our community positive and to ensure that every pin is useful to other people.
Be nice: Pinterest is a community of people. We know that tastes are personal, but be respectful in your comments and conversations.
Credit your sources: Pins are the most useful when they have links back to the original source. If you notice that a pin is not sourced correctly, leave a comment so the original pinner can update the source. Finding the original source is always preferable to a secondary source such as Google Image Search or a blog entry.
Avoid self-promotion: Pinterest is designed to curate and share things you love. If there is a photo or project you're proud of, pin away! However, try not to use Pinterest purely as a tool for self-promotion.
Report objectionable content: If you find content that is objectionable or violates our Terms of Service can submit the content for review by pushing the "Report Content" link.
Source: Pinterest
Plan a family feast or a romantic dinner for two. Choose the wedding dress of your dreams or design a dreamy nursery. Swap dessert recipes or trendy hairstyles all without leaving the comfort of your home or desk.
Pinterest is a social networking site for all of your favorite things. Users create virtual pinboards packed with pictures of their favorite formal gowns, casseroles, flower arrangements or vacation locales. Think online scrapbook complete with convenient links.
Is there a special event in your future? Start a board and collect related photos, recipes or project ideas. Your friends, across the country or around the world, can chime in about your bridal bouquet ideas or landscaping concepts for your backyard.
Or you can browse other people’s pinboards to get ideas and inspiration from those who have similar interests. “Re-pin” their ideas onto one of your boards, leave a comment or “Like” something they pinned.
Pinterest’s mission is “to connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting.” And, according to their website, millions of new pins are added weekly. The Facebook Pinterest app alone has close to 6 million current users.
A common term used to describe Pinterest is addicting.
“I’m obsessed with Pinterest,” said Pam White, of West Chester. “Sunday, my husband busted me for having three Pinterest projects going on — two recipes and I’m painting chairs with fabric paint.”
How it works
To get started, you need to request an invite at www.pinterest.com or have a current user invite you. You won’t be pinning right away, as you will likely join the Pinterest waiting list. It might be several days or even a few weeks before your Pinterest invite arrives in your inbox.
But once that invite arrives, it’s time to start pinning. Here are some Pinterest basics:
Pin: An image or video from a website, another board or uploaded by the user. Don't forget to add a short description or comment.
Boards: Organized by topic or area of interest, they become a collection of related pins. Pinterest offers suggested boards but users can rename, delete or add their own.
Following/followers: Users can follow anyone and choose to follow one, several or all of their boards. If you sign up using Twitter or Facebook, you can easily find friends who are on Pinterest and follow them. People will also follow you.
Repins: When you share someone's pin, you re-pin it. Think retweets. You can edit or add a description.
Likes: Liking a pin adds it to your profile but doesn't add it to any of your boards. You can see how many people re-pinned and liked your pins as that information is updated in real time.
Sharing: Your pins can easily be shared on Twitter and Facebook. You can also email your pins to friends and family.
Something for everyone
From high school students pinning prom dresses to stay-at-home moms pinning recipes and college students pinning dorm decorating ideas to new home owners pinning decorating ideas — the uses are limitless.
Time is precious for White who frequently has a toddler and infant in tow. But she definitely has time for Pinterest.
“I don’t have time to get online and do complete searches for toddler activities but they are easy to find on Pinterest,” she said. “And the recipes and projects are already tried and tested.”
White, admittedly, is not a crafty person but she is thoroughly enjoying her current project redoing some chairs with the help of fabric spray paint. Her family enjoyed the homemade soup she made last weekend from a recipe she found on Pinterest. And getting her 2½ year-old son in on the act is a win-win.
“All of my family is out of town so when I can send them something Ben made, they love it,” she said. “And I always send my niece and nephew something for Valentine’s Day and it can be more personal if I make it myself.”
Shelby Quinlivan started her niece/nephew ideas board when she heard her brother and sister-in-law were expecting their first child, but the Miamisburg resident uses Pinterest for a variety of topics from fashion to event planning.
“I have a board for motivational and relatable quotes, a board of home decor ideas for my future home,” Quinlivan said. “I used to clip magazine pictures and how-to recipes and save them in a box. Pinterest makes all of those things more available and creates much less clutter.”
It’s also a way to stay connected with friends and family.
“I have it connected to my Facebook and Twitter, so I have been able to find a lot of my friends. It’s always interesting to see what your friends are interested in — one friend is pinning recipes to try out, one is pinning wedding dresses and invitation ideas, another is planning out her little girl’s birthday tea party. I have definitely re-pinned and liked many of my friends’ pins.
“It gets addicting for sure.”
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