First, let me tell you what Pinterest is all about. Imagine a giant cork board of sorts. Very useful for keeping track of those little business cards, coupons, schedules, appointment reminders and other interesting things to remember. Well, Pinterest is an online version of your giant cork board, only better.
After scouring the internet for a new recipe, DIY project or ... whatever, you can then 'pin' the found 'desired item' to your virtual cork board via a handy little browser button that is added to your tool bar when you sign up. This in turn creates new opportunities like...
1) you can come back and find said 'desired item' any time very easily and
2) 'said item' is instantly shared with your friendly board followers.
Yes, I forgot to mention that your boards can be followed by other 'pinners', be it your facebook friends or complete strangers who just like your pins. Social Networking meets virtual organization. It's a great conversation starter too!
For example: Me to my crafty cousin regarding her handmade nylon baby flower headbands:- Those are so cute! Where did you get that idea?" Crafty Cousin- "PINTEREST!" This conversation is what started my interest in Pinterest and with Christmas almost here, there is an abundance of holiday inspiration and motivation floating around on those pinboards! So my new internet browsing mantra is "Just Pin It!" (It's ok - you can sing it if you're an MJ fan)
If you link to your Facebook account, you instantly start following all of your friends with Pinterest accounts. (Yeah for linking accounts!) Then you can see all of your friends 'pins' and, since they are your friends, the chances are very good you will love a lot of their finds and feel compelled to re-pin to your own boards. Oh, you can also comment on pins or just 'like' them too.
I had to request an invite via facebook to get my own account(which really works if you have crafty friends.) Once I got signed up I started looking around and found lots of my friends were avid pinners (lucky me!). Now I don't have to search the world wide web for awesome inspiration, just my friends pin boards... or the boards of random people too. I can't get off the site long enough to go out there and find my own fun things to pin, although I'm sure I will eventually. For now I am content to re-pin oodles of inspiration and hope that some day I will have time to actually do/try/make/taste some of my borrowed/stolen/copied ideas and bring fresh ideas to my already 'crammed full of stuff' life.
Well, I hope I have opened the gates of curiosity for you to at least check it out and maybe even get your own Pinning Groove started. I know you will love it, how can you not? If you need an invite just let me know!
Happy Holidays and Happy Pinning!
