Thursday, March 29, 2012

Creative social network lets users share images, ideas for crafts, recipes

Published March 29, 2012 in the Commercial Appeal
Kristin Wolter-Canfield is the owner and designer of Mama Y Wawa (facebook.com/mamaywawa), a company specializing in unique handcrafted accessories for mother, child and special events. She reads a lot of design blogs, and Pinterest popped up all over them when it first launched. Wolter-Canfield considers herself an early adopter since she has been a Pinterest member since April 2010, soon after it launched.

"I am a very visual person. Before Pinterest, I used to just save tons of images to my computer," she says. "But then I would have to try and find the original link to the idea or clog up my bookmarks. Pinterest was the perfect way to better categorize all my interests."

Pinterest (pinterest.com) is a virtual pin board that lets users organize and share beautiful things they find on the Internet. These beautiful things are called pins and can be added from a website using the "Pin It" button, or uploaded directly from one's computer. Each pin added using the Pin It button links back to the site it came from, which is especially useful to members.

To organize pins, users create boards. A board can be created on any topic, and users can add as many pins to a board as they want.

Users can follow other users, or just specific boards of other users. Connecting through Facebook or Twitter makes it easy to find friends, but all content on Pinterest is public, and one does not need permission to follow someone else.

When browsing, users can also re-pin images to their own boards. This accounts for the majority of traffic on the site. When someone re-pins an image, the user who first pinned the image will also get credit. Re-pins maintain the source link of the image no matter how many times it's repinned.

Pinterest has helped Wolter-Canfield with both work and her personal life. Projects she found there enabled her to help two family members plan and design their weddings. She also used Pinterest ideas to redesign her nursery before the birth of her second daughter. "I also plan photo sessions with a work colleague, try to become a better cook, and get inspiration for Mama Y Wawa," she says.

As Pinterest has gained popularity, Wolter-Canfield has developed a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. She has a "Mama Y Wawa" board where she keeps all of her ideas and inspiration for her accessories.

"When Pinterest first started, it was mostly designers and artists using it for work and inspiration. Now every housewife, bride-to-be and teenager seems to have an account," she says. "Since boards are not private, everyone can find them and follow all of your ideas."

Wolter-Canfield explains that Pinterest is so inspiring that it seems like everyone is trying their hand at being an "artist" or designer. "It has made it difficult to be original in my field. Everyone can easily find the tutorial for fabric or felt flowers and make their own headbands. Why would they pay 12 bucks to buy mine?" she says.

The floral designer Wolter-Canfield works for does not have a Pinterest account because of the privacy issues.

"She uses Pinterest as a guest instead so that she can keep her ideas and designs to herself," Wolter-Canfield explains.

"I mostly only follow other designers, colleagues and bloggers I have followed for years," she says. "Sometimes, I stumble onto another person who may have re-pinned something of mine, and then I check out their boards. That's right: I am a Pinterest snob."

Wolter-Canfield isn't closing her account any time soon. Instead, she's focusing on the bright side. "It does allow me to see what all is out there, follow trends and push me to be more creative," she says.

Kellie Grabert, who is the special events coordinator for the Memphis Redbirds, uses Pinterest primarily for personal use, but is also discovering ways to integrate it into her work. She has been a member for about six months and has 13 boards, one of which is called "I did it! Things I've made from Pinterest ideas!"

She thinks Pinterest is so popular because it's an easy way to stay organized and be able to access ideas.

"I use it to find recipes and other DIY ideas for things to make," Grabert says. She and a friend, Katie Graczyk, have weekly dinner nights when they cook and hang out.

"We've got a board that we share and both pin to," Grabert says. "When deciding what we will make for a particular week, we both look at the board and toss ideas back and forth."

The board, called "Girls Night Dinners," includes 29 recipes for dishes such as Braided Spaghetti Bread, Bang Bang Shrimp, Crockpot Grinders and S'mores Cookie Bars.

Grabert has also found that the information stored on Pinterest can be useful in her work. "As an event coordinator, I also do use it for research," she says. "It gives me ideas on what events are happening all over the world, and some of the finer details for each." Grabert has a couple of boards that she pins to when helping friends plan events, as well. "It helps to have a lot of ideas in one place that we can use."

She likes that she can follow other people on Pinterest and that it's another form of social networking. "If you're working on something with someone that isn't in the same office, city, etc., you can still have one workspace," Grabert says. "For me, it has minimized long lists of e-mails back and forth."

Looking at a specific board or topic is like a specialized search engine. For instance, Grabert was interested in making a wreath for her door. She searched for "wreath" and found photos with DIY instructions. "I found so many great ideas that I still haven't made a wreath because I can't decide which one to make!" she says.

More than 68 percent of Pinterest users are women, but that may change as the site grows. Jason Johns, who is one of the owners of Old City Millwork, which specializes in cabinetry, doors, moldings and furniture, joined Pinterest last spring.

"My sister-in-law kept telling me about it and sent me an invitation," he says. "Honestly, I was a little reluctant and didn't completely understand what it was. I still might not know."

Johns lives in Evergreen with his wife, and they are preparing for their first child. He works on commercial and residential projects. "When I am not at the shop, I love working on projects around the house," he says.

He considers himself a Pinterest giver, not a taker.

"I am always adding items to the site and rarely look at other people's pins," he says. "I truly love great design and architecture. It's a passion for me and probably helps explain how I ended up as a cabinetmaker."

As a way to find new inspiration for work and his personal "furniture/art projects," Johns started subscribing to different blogs. "I have about 100 blogs that I look at each day. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes, and I pin the items that I like. I find it to be my bulletin board for cool things I see," he says.

Grabert offers some advice for new pinners out there. "Please pin carefully, and always link back to the original source," she says. "This will protect the intellectual property, but also will give other users the chance to find what you've pinned."

Wolter-Canfield notes that there are a few other sites similar to Pinterest for more serious designers. The wedding industry has developed (lover.ly), and there is a series of Gawkers (food, craft, wedding, and dwelling) on gawkerverse.com.

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