So much to love about Pinterest!

What is Pinterest, you ask? Only my most favourite place on the internet! Pinterest is a bookmarking website. It is a user driven, visually based content-sharing site. In 2012 it was the fastest growing social media website. Users, also called pinners, "pin" photos, videos, graphics to virtual bulletin boards. Ideally, these pins link back to the source website where you will find the recipe, instructions, place to buy that cute sweater, as the case may be, although some pins are just a pretty picture.

Who uses Pinterest? 82% of Pinterest users are women, and most of those are in the 26-34 year old age bracket, followed closely by the 35-44 age group.

Why might you want to use Pinterest? Boards can be used for many things: ideas for building, remodelling or decorating projects, recipes to try or ones you have tried, birthday party plans, shower and wedding plans, bucket list, school projects, sewing projects, exercise routines, gardening plans, photography ideas or just having all those humorous things that make you smile in one place for days when nothing goes right. My sister and I each have a board titled Things my sister will like, because we were often emailing each other cool stuff.

About me on Pinterest

Collections of photos can show very plainly where your tastes fall when you are agonizing about decorating decisions! It's wonderful to be able to access your collection of recipes when are visiting your sister and making your famous appetizer. Or your boyfriend could plan your whole wedding on the sly, as seen on the Global Calgary Morning Edition! 

I used my On the Porch board when we redid our front porch

How do you get on Pinterest? Go to pinterest.com and click Join! You can sign in using Facebook login or set up a Pinterest login. When you join, you will be asked about your interests and Pinterest will set up your account to "follow" Pinners with similar interests. Following someone means that their pins show up in your personalized feed. You can choose to follow anyone, either all of their boards or just one or two. Conversely, anyone can also follow you! The more people you follow, the more interesting your personal feed will be. You can always click on the Everything feed to see, well, everything being pinned on Pinterest at that moment.

You can repin the pins you see by clicking on the red PinIt! (formerly Repin) in the top left corner of the photo and pinning it to one of your Boards. You can also edit the description of the pin. You can also pin new content from most websites, although some block pinning. Pinning new content keeps Pinterest fresh and interesting!

Of course it is!

You can use Pinterest on your desktop/laptop computer through your browser. You can also download the free app for your iPad, iPhone or Android device. I love the iPad app. You can browse the internet from inside the app and pin new content.
 
Of course, there are downsides to Pinterest. It is not very searchable but that makes it like a thrift shop treasure hunt. If you like something and don't pin it, you may never see it again. The biggest downside is the time sink it can become. Guilty! Easily solved, though:



 I have been pinning since the spring of 2011, back when it was by invite only, although anyone could browse the pins. Yes, I have lost many hours in front of the computer but probably would have otherwise lost them in front of the tv. And I wouldn't have found such gems as the Syfy TV series Eureka, inspiration for Project 365 and many awesome blogs and recipes. There is so much creativity out there! Enjoy it!

Once you have figured out the basics, here are some links to more advanced topics:
Time with Thea: Using Pinterest to Organize your Ideas and Inspirations
Time with Thea: Why I Have 130 Boards on Pinterest
Time with Thea: How to Organize Your Boards on Pinterest
Time with Thea: Strategies for Finding Pins to Pin on Pinterest