Pinterest is a free online and mobile social-bookmarking platform that allows users to upload and share images, known as "pins," from around the web. Users can organize these pins into themed collections called "pinboards," enabling them to showcase their interests and inspirations, ranging from event planning to meal ideas. Founded in 2010 by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra, and Evan Sharp, Pinterest has evolved into a popular resource for individuals and businesses alike, with a focus on visual content. Unlike traditional social media, Pinterest does not facilitate direct transactions; instead, businesses often link their products to their main websites through their pins. Initially perceived as a platform primarily for women, Pinterest has grown to attract a diverse user base, reaching over 100 million active monthly users by 2015. The platform's unique interface encourages users to discover and share ideas, fostering a collaborative environment. Additionally, Pinterest has introduced business accounts, allowing brands to promote their products through tailored "Promoted Pins," enhancing their marketing strategies within the visual landscape.
Pinterest is a free online and mobile social-bookmarking website where users can upload images they find online. Unlike other social-bookmarking websites, Pinterest uses visuals, known as “pins.” If content does not include an image, it cannot be uploaded to Pinterest. Once uploaded, images can be shared on other social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Users group their images into typically themed collections called “pinboards,” which act as content catalogues. Pinterest can serve as an accessible medium for users to share their tastes and interests with others; to get inspiration for events like weddings or vacations, style, and meals; and to share their own photographs. Businesses have also taken to Pinterest to promote their products. There is no method of performing transactions on Pinterest, so businesses typically post links to their main website along with their pins.
Following its launch in 2010, Pinterest’s popularity grew to the point where many members began using it like a search engine. Users searching on the website usually look for objects and other material items like clothing and gadgets.
Brief History
Entrepreneurs Ben Silbermann and Paul Sciarra began developing Pinterest, along with architecture student Evan Sharp, in late 2009. The previous year, Silbermann quit his job at Google and teamed up with Sciarra to form their start-up company Cold Brew Labs, Inc. Their first project focused on building a mobile shopping application (app) for the iPhone called Tote. The app utilized an interface that presented products from various retailers and locations to users and personalized the shopping experience.
Eventually Silbermann and Sciarra decided that Tote was too complicated and premature—investors were not interested in funding the project. Despite this setback, the concept for Pinterest came about from observing how people used Tote. They found that instead of using the app to shop, users were collecting images of products. Therefore, Silbermann and his team decided to make their next venture an image-based website. They intentionally left the purpose of the website ambiguous, so that people could use it for anything they wished.
By early 2010, they had found funding for Pinterest from several investors, including private equity firm FirstMark Capital. In March 2010 the first prototype of Pinterest was made available to a small group of people. Three months later, the website had three thousand registered users. Initially, an invite was required to sign up for Pinterest; it was later opened up to everyone.
Although in the growing world of social media three thousand is a small number of accounts, Silbermann and his team paid special attention to this group of users. They organized in-person meetings, asking users for feedback and promising them more invites if they got their friends to sign up. Using a campaign called “Pin It Forward,” users were encouraged to create albums, known as pinboards, to inspire friends to create their own.
The website continued to gradually grow in popularity and in March 2011 they launched their first mobile app for the iPhone. Later that year, Pinterest had acquired another large round of funding and had earned the distinction of being named one of Time magazine’s fifty best websites of 2011. The next year, the site released apps for Android phones and iPads. Sciarra also left the company in 2012.
Overview
Pinterest allows users to save images from other websites or upload their own and “pin” them to an album of images known as a pinboard. Other users can find these pinboards and copy the images they like to their own boards. The initial view of the website was that it was mainly for women, since predominantly women were logging in seeking help to plan everything from dinners to weddings. Within four years after its launch in 2010, Pinterest grew to become one of the most popular websites on the Internet.
When users first sign up for Pinterest, they create a profile that includes a username. They then have the option of installing the “pin it” button on their web browser. This allows users to easily pin images from other websites to their pinboards. When pinning from a website, a link to the original page can be added on Pinterest so users can go to the source if they are interested.
Once users decide to make a pin, they must then select which pinboard to add it to. They also have the option of writing a caption for the image and creating a new pinboard based around it. Users can title their new pinboards whatever they like, but Pinterest has set categories so users must pick the appropriate one or select “other.” There is also an option to add other users to a pinboard, so that they can also add images. Similar to Twitter, users can follow other accounts that interest them and “repin” images posted there, which adds them into one of their own pinboards. Users also have the option of “liking” and commenting on other users’ pins.
Popularity
Unlike many social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook, Pinterest did not achieve widespread popularity right away. Much of this was due to the fact that users were unsure of the website’s purpose. In June 2010, three months following its official launch, the website had three thousand users.
In April 2012 a report by marketing service Experian found that Pinterest had become the third most popular social networking site behind Facebook and Twitter. This was a jump from the number seven spot in Experian’s previous report in November 2011. According to analytics groups such as Semiocast and comScore, within three years, Pinterest reached seventy million users worldwide and surpassed ten million unique monthly visitors, which was a growth faster than any other website in the history of the Internet. In September 2015 Pinterest reported that it had 100 million active monthly users.
Business Accounts
In 2012 Pinterest began allowing users to create business accounts. This development has enabled users who own businesses to market their products using the website’s image-based interface and link to a page where members can purchase the products. Users were also given the option of converting their personal Pinterest page into a business-specific one. For business accounts, Pinterest added several features to help companies improve their marketing strategy. These additions include buttons for users to pin images from the business websites onto Pinterest to help drive traffic and grow their audience.
Pinterest announced the decision to open up the website to big consumer brands in late 2014. For a fee, businesses will be allowed to post tailored “Promoted Pins” that appear on users’ feeds.
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