Are you Pinterested?

This post is part of a series written by zcomm interns. Be sure to check back each week for their take on the latest in the public relations industry. This week, Hailey discusses Pinterest and its growing popularity.

Graphic: www.marriedtothesea.com

According to comScore, Pinterest is the fastest growing social network site ever, having increased by more than 145 percent since the beginning of 2012. In all honesty, I don’t think I was even aware it existed in 2011. Occasionally my friends would send me links to over-priced shoes or mouth-watering dessert recipes, but I never felt inclined to make my own account.

And then something happened. All of a sudden, I was Pinterested. I gave in and went to the site only to find out I couldn’t just join, I had to be invited. I felt like I had just gotten rejected from something exclusive, like the Plastics’ lunch table for wearing sweatpants on a Monday.

Luckily, getting an invitation really wasn’t difficult. The first person I asked invited me without hesitation. However, I asked a female; had I asked a male, I probably would have received a blank stare and a fist pound rather than an invite.

According to AppData and Facebook, 97 percent of Pinterest’s Facebook fans are women. This was evident the moment I registered for my account. I signed in through the Facebook app, so I could find and follow friends who registered their accounts the same way. I’m following a handful of guys but have yet to see any of them pin a thing, unless they’re pinning wedding dresses and cupcakes and I just haven’t realized it yet.

To highlight Pinterest’s unpopularity among males, I decided to ask some of my guy friends their thoughts on the site:

  • “It’s for girls, planning dream weddings. That’s all I know.”
  • “Not really too sure what it is, to be honest. I’m the wrong guy.”
  • “Honestly, I don’t see the point. Like, I don’t know.”
  • “I honestly have been asking everyone what that is. It seems very girly to me.”
  • “Well, I mean I think it’s smart because girls love sharing what they want with other girls.”
  • “I honestly have no idea what it is… at all.”
  • “I see it on Facebook a lot, but it’s always like ‘Chloe likes Love on Pinterest,’ so I don’t know what I would get out of it.”

Although they sound pretty clueless, the people I spoke to have a point; they’re kind of right and wrong at the same time. Right now, most Pinterest users are females, but that doesn’t mean males can’t benefit from the site as well.

Rather than following all of your Facebook friends and all of their boards, I recommend only following those with pins you want to see. I stopped following most of my friends’ boards that relate to fashion because looking at thousands of pictures of things I can’t afford just doesn’t (p)interest me.

Guys can do the same. Don’t want to look at makeup, kittens or billion-calorie baked goods all day? Easy. Don’t.  Instead, follow boards called cars, sneakers, protein… whatever may interest you.

Like most things, Pinterest is what you make it.

“Pinterested” in learning more? The Guy’s Guide to Pinterest and The Bro’s Guide to Pinterest both have a lot of useful tips for male users and for male-oriented brands looking to take advantage of the fastest growing social network we’ve ever seen.

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