Apr
2011
Pinterest : The 101
Like everything new on the web it takes time for people to do things right. When it comes to blogging we all know that there’s an etiquette to follow; credit sources, don’t steal content from other bloggers and claim as your own, mention to your readers when you are compensated for a review… and the list goes on. As you know, I’ve been pinning since July of last year and as much as I LOVE THE SITE…. people (some, not all) are going about it all wrong.
Just like blogging, you’d be surprised to know that there is a Pinterest etiquette. I’m not trying to claim that I do it all right, we are all human, but if we are aware of it, it only makes us better… right? I thought I would give you a 101 (and feel free to add to it) about Pinterest.
Like I mentioned, I don’t do it perfect… not even close and it’s harder to control when a pretty image pops up in your feed and you simply repin it (which is what I tend to do ALOT)
- MAKE SURE TO AVOID DEAD LINKS
When I see something I love on pinterest the first thing I do is click on the image to go to the blog/site it comes from for additional details. Say for example; price, where I can get that specific item or how I should go about making it (tutorial) It happens too many times that I click on the image and it just links to the image. FAIL! I don’t know where the image is coming from nor do I know how to find it. This is the #1 mistake from pinners.HOW TO FIX THIS PROBLEM:
If you installed the Pin It Bookmark (Safari, Firefox & Chrome) be sure you click on the actual post (for the specific URL) and then use the Pin It Bookmark. That way it will save the Post Unique URL rather than the website’s URL. This happens alot with Tumblr Posts. (links to say page 6, but by the time you click on the link the image is not on page 6 but maybe page 13) Hours of searching = no fun.
- CREDIT SOURCES PROPERLY
As much as it’s easy to reblog something we’ve seen online, it’s as easy to pin something from a blog who’s reblogged content. Sure it’s easy to do, but it really sucks for the original source. I mean seeing their “post/image/art/design” on pinterest coming from another source but their own. This has happened to me (and I’m not an important person
) so please try and avoid this.
HOW TO FIX THE PROBLEM:
If you are on a blog and like something but see there’s a source for the image, click on that link until you find the original source and pin away. Yes this may be time consuming I know (finding the original source) but in the end it will eliminate sourcing issues. If you can’t go this route, then might I add you credit the “original” source in the description. (see image below)
- YOU WOULD WANT TO KNOW IF YOU WERE PINNED
As much as I love Pinterest, I find that it lacks one thing. Either a notification when someone pins you (maybe a la pingback) or a way to search a specific domain on pinterest to see who pinned art/design/photography from your site. I even went forward and sent the suggestion to the peeps over at the pin kingdom and they thanked me for the suggestion.HOW TO FIX THE PROBLEM:
You can do one of three things. #1 – leave a comment on the post of the blogger saying you pinned their pic and leave the unique URL of that pin. #2 – you can mention (@) the author/source of the image (if you follow that specific person) or #3 – If you don’t follow that person, then tag either their name or their blog name (i.e. #blushink) That way searching to see who pinned you will be easier to find. (Ideally I would do 1 & 2/3) but as long as one is done… then yay!
Okay enough about the don’t of pinterest and on to the Dos. Do use it, Do follow people, Do like, Do mention and most of all HAVE FUN DO-ing it Last week I found a tip that is worth to be shared. Did you know that you can highlight type (say a source or description) and then press the pin it bookmark and it will copy/paste the text in the description box of the pin itself? Isn’t that great? You can go ahead and modify the text but it makes it so much easier/faster and you are sure not to make any spelling mistakes in names. If you are a visual person, check out the explanation on The Pinteresting Blog
Last but not least, did you know you can embed an image on pinterest directly on your blog and all the credits will be intact? All done for you so you know everything will work. It’s actually pretty great! You can find the embed button on the side of a pin next to the twitter, email and facebook button. You can even select the size of the image (but can’t go bigger than the original). This is what an embedded pin looks like :
Source: europaintfinishes.blogspot.com via Nancy on Pinterest
I promise I am not the Pinterest police… I just want everyone to enjoy all aspects of the site. Am I missing anything? Do you have more Pinterest Etiquette or tips? Please do share!
26 Comments on Pinterest : The 101
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Reply
Nellie
April 22, 2011 at 15:21 (758 days ago)Thank you! I just started Pinning this week. These “rules” are really really helpful.
Amanda
April 22, 2011 at 16:04 (758 days ago)Thanks for sharing this! I haven’t been Pinning for very long, so it’s nice to know what the etiquette is!
Alyson
April 22, 2011 at 17:08 (758 days ago)Thanks for this. As a wedding professional and a professional researcher, I have thought about cite and source almost every time I’ve pinned. Repinning especially posed concern for me. Your breakdown is super helpful in terms of posting my pins on my blog. I have wondered multiple times about how to make sure the (re)posted pin hit the original source.
serena @bigapplenosh
April 22, 2011 at 22:19 (758 days ago)So interesting! I haven’t gotten into Pinterest yet, but I’ve heard great things about it
Shannon Margaret
April 23, 2011 at 21:01 (757 days ago)I think the 1 and only rule that everyone should use for pintrest is have fun with it.
Shannon Margaret
Katie
April 25, 2011 at 12:05 (755 days ago)Love the tips! I adore Pinterest, and I do my best to pin correctly…but I’m sure I haven’t been perfect!
Also – regarding #3 – wanting to know if you’ve been pinned. I actually had someone (I don’t know her) pin pictures of a few of my recipes on my blog, and I got an email from pinterest telling me that she had done so! So, it looks like they took your suggestion, as I’ve been getting notifications when my site’s content is pinned!
Kristin ~ Bien Living Design
April 25, 2011 at 22:20 (755 days ago)Great list Kelly! I really need to start pinning…I don’t know why I haven’t started yet, considering I signed up months ago! :/
Jasmine
April 26, 2011 at 11:48 (754 days ago)I am a pinterest newbie and stumbled upon your write-up. Very helpful stuff.
Really appreciate the tips about highlighting the text and embedding pics.
Yay for shortcuts!
abi
April 27, 2011 at 19:21 (753 days ago)Thanks for the info – I keep hearing good things about this site and want to give it a try. Do I need an invite to join?
Peony and Thistle
April 28, 2011 at 15:56 (752 days ago)Thanks so much for this. It’s really useful for me as I’ve just started on Pinterest (thanks to Dana at Cafe D on etsy for inviting me) It’s really useful to know the etiquette – I’m sure I’m doing all sorts of things wrong all over the place with social media because it’s so new to me… at least now I should start off on the right foot with Pinterest! Thanks!
Allison
April 30, 2011 at 10:13 (750 days ago)Thanks for the tips…I just started pinning (and blogging a few months ago) and love it! I have been wondering how to put images on my blog from pinterest. You mentioned embedding them…I hit the embed button and tried to add the image as a picture, but it isn’t working. Any suggestions as to what I might be doing wrong??? Thanks!
Damaris @Kitchen Corners
May 12, 2011 at 02:13 (738 days ago)I love Pinterest. Can you please please please tell me how you got the pin it button on the bottom of your post? I’ve been researching this all day and have had zero success.
thanks in advance.
Kelly | Glamour This!
May 12, 2011 at 13:23 (738 days ago)My programmer actually added it for me. So unfortunately I can’t tell you how he did it. (I suck at the code part)
Ida
May 12, 2011 at 06:42 (738 days ago)I have just joined Pinterest and really enjoyed your helpful hints on Pinterest etiquette. Shared your insight on Twitter and Pinterest, Thanks!
Kelly | Glamour This!
May 12, 2011 at 13:24 (738 days ago)Thank you
kudzai
July 12, 2011 at 06:05 (677 days ago)I love pinterest funny thing is the embed button for embed on blogs with all the credits seems to have disappeared on me do you know how i can recover it.i like your blog by the way.
Kelly | Glamour This!
July 12, 2011 at 09:54 (677 days ago)Hmmm, not sure. It’s possible its an issue with Pinterest. Hopefully the feature will work again. And thanks for the blog love
Jenai
July 16, 2011 at 21:32 (673 days ago)This is great! I had no idea that pinterest existed until about a week ago when I saw that it referred someone to my blog. I also had no idea that someone had pinned me A YEAR AGO. While being pinned is awesome, it definitely would have been awesome to know. Great etiquette tips!
Laura
August 2, 2011 at 11:29 (656 days ago)This was helpful but I can’t figure out for the life of me how to make the embed feature work! Can you help me??
Kelly | Glamour This!
August 2, 2011 at 14:46 (656 days ago)in the sidebar of the actual pinned image, there’s an embedd option. Click on that, select the width of the image, copy the code and paste it in the html editor of your blog post. Hope this helps.
kudzai
August 2, 2011 at 17:18 (656 days ago)just realised it was one picture that i couldnt embed.
Suzanne
September 2, 2011 at 23:24 (625 days ago)Just came across this post tonight when I googled a pinterest question.. Thanks for the advice! Well said & point taken. I’m new to it, so the timing was great for me.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Kelly | Glamour This!
September 5, 2011 at 10:58 (622 days ago)Thanks for stopping by my blog Suzanne. You will see really really soon that, um… pinterest is addicting
Jen V.
October 13, 2011 at 03:08 (584 days ago)Thanks for sharing this. I love pinterest!
I was sharing embed images off of pinterest on my blog just fine and then all of a sudden last week I tried and it won’t work anymore. Something with the sizing is off. Any tips?
Vanessa Van Edwards
August 1, 2012 at 13:49 (291 days ago)Hi!
I am a total Pinterest-aholic and created a little free bookmarklet that helps users find source images for pins and its WAAAAAY easier than doing it manually:
picnic.dreamuplabs.com
Hope it helps!
Cheers,
Vanessa