Are You Pinteresting? 6 Points to Remember

Although Pinterest is two years old, it leapt to popularity this year as people flocked to the site and the media took notice. Meanwhile, many figured out that Pinterest pin boards mean publicity and, in some cases, dollars.

But there are probably a few things you still don’t know about the new social media darling, such as:

1. Mostly female users, but …

Pinterest has a reputation for its mostly female population, and for the most part it’s true. However, it’s not as skewed as you might think. While one study said the site is almost 90 percent women,another study showed that the percentages were closer to 70 percent women, 30 percent men. It’s not 50/50, but there are still a number of men visiting the site. It shows there’s definitely a huge market on Pinterest.

2. Time on site is loooong

Facebook has the market cornered on visits, but there’s one area where Pinterest has it beat: time spent on the site. The average Facebook user spends 12 minutes checking out what their friends are doing. On Pinterest, it’s up to almost 16 minutes, just behind YouTube at 16.5 minutes. Part of the reason for Pinterest long time on site is likely due to the ease of its mobile version, where you can just scroll … and scroll … and scroll …


3. Growth from the Midwest

While we normally associate tech growth with an area such as California or New York, Pinterest’s growth can be attributed to the Midwest. From there it swiftly spread to across the country. Goes to show that if you capture the Heartland, you’ve got the nation’s heart.

4. It actively discourages self promotion

Businesses looking to send traffic to their stores and websites are faced with a problem: Pinterest etiquette dictates that users don’t self-promote. As a result, it’s forced many businesses to return to the drawing board and determine how to shift people from Pinterest to the checkout line without crossing the imaginary promotion border. The key is to keep it simple, light, and fun, just like the website itself.

5. It’s No. 3

Pinterest is now the third most popular social media site on the Internet, behind Facebook and Twitter. Not No. 3 among women, or No. 3 with Etsy sellers—it’s No. 3 overall. In March alone, when the site’s meteoric rise began to plateau, it still boasted more than 104 million visitors, with Twitter getting 182 million and LinkedIn coming in at No. 4 with 86 million.

6. You cannot pin from the iPhone app

The Pinterest iPhone app only allows you to view the boards, you cannot pin. However the paid app for iPads does allow you to pin. Pins look super on the iPad with its great screen.