What kind of a Pinner are you?

There has been so much commotion over Pinterest and its terms of service in the past six weeks or so. In that time, several bloggers wrote about their deletion of their pin boards upon hearing the news. However, Pinterest has taken steps to make some changes. And as Liz pointed out, there is responsibility on those of us still pinning. She has some excellent ideas; I hope you'll take the time to read them.

source

As a blogger, I think it is important to be knowledgeable about social media and Pinterest is one of those things. It's been sited as possibly the fastest growing social media site ((increasing site visits 145% since January 2012)). If you're a blogger, it's important to know about Pinterest and you have a few options: embrace it or block it and there are ways of doing each:

• How to determine if your blog content is pinned
• You can make your blog Pinterest Free
• Get familiar with the Pinterest Etiquette page

my pin boards

How can you, as a blogger, benefit from Pinterest? Talk about Pinterest and let others know you want them to be responsible pinners, using the site with respect. That means pinning directly from the source, rather than re-pinning and getting lost in the world of Pinterest. We've likely been there, and quickly gotten sucked into the awe-inspiring photos that are just scrolls/clicks away ((if that)). This could mean avoiding the Pinterest App on your iPhone and surfing the web/reading blogs directly on the blog themselves so you can pin from there and cite the source. Some may argue following such practices takes away from the community feel of the site. I think you can still peruse other's pin boards, but just be sure to go to the site before you pin. I'm all about community ((heck, I joined Instagram this week and that's a community of its own)), so look around and enjoy what others find via Pinterest, but make the choice to be respectful...

• of other's intellectual property
• support the handmade community
• be an example for other bloggers/followers

What are your plans for using Pinterest?