Thursday 14 June 2012

Pinterest...

Whether you love it or hate it, it does look like Pinterest is here to stay.

I must say, when I first discovered Pinterest, I wasn't overly keen on it. Did I really want one more thing to work out, use and check on a regular basis? However, everyone seemed to be sprouting it's virtues, so I felt it deserved a chance.

It's very easy to use, so I didn't need to invest much time working it out. What I did discover, though, was that people were pinning my projects. Initially I didn't like this, as they were pinning, but not leaving comments on my blog. Yes, I have to admit, this really annoyed me at first.

It didn't take me long to come around and to realise that this wasn't a bad thing. I just had to look at it in a different way. Pinning my projects was actually a compliment. Not only that, Pinterest drives a lot of traffic to my blog.

Most people will know that you type the following URL to see your posts that are pinned on Pinterest...
http://pinterest.com/source/your-blog-address/

To see my posts that have been pinned, I type in...
http://pinterest.com/source/threadingmyway.blogspot.com/




However, that only shows some of my posts that have been pinned. I can also find posts pinned at the following URLs...
http://pinterest.com/source/threadingmyway.blogspot.com.au/

http://pinterest.com/source/threadingmyway.blogspot.co.uk/

http://pinterest.com/source/threadingmyway.blogspot.com.es/

http://pinterest.com/source/threadingmyway.blogspot.com.br

There's probably more, but that's all I've found.

To the best of my knowledge, this just applies to Blogger blogs and is due to the fact that Blogger has rolled out Country Redirect to blogs that don't have their own domain. I wrote a post here when the rollout first began.

Basically, the Internet Country Code is added to the end of the URL. You can find a list of Internet Country Codes here and here.

As a courtesy to the owner of the project I'm pinning, I try to always
  • leave a comment telling them I'm pinning one of their posts for the first time, assuming they'll tell me if they don't want me to. So far, I've only had positive feedback.
  • steer clear of pinning pictures that show kids' faces.
  • link back to the original post.
If you don't want people to pin your projects, there is code on the Pinterest site, that you can add to your blog to prevent others from pinning your things.

It took me a while to get on board, but I do find Pinterest to be a great way to organise my To Do list and to record where I find wonderful projects I'd like to come back to.

I'm more than happy for you to pin my projects to Pinterest... without leaving a comment, unless you want to of course.


... Pam

15 comments:

  1. The country code thing got meat first, I wondered where things I had pinned went, then realised that .com was showing on a different board to .co.uk! Very confusing, but I do love Pinterest.

    I really like your Pinning Code, very sensible and thoughtful.

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  2. Oh gosh...I'm in there too....not very often, but it is a great compliment.

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  3. As I was reading this, I thought, nobody would ever pin anything I've done - but great day! they had! It was a real encouragement to me, actually, because some of the items got very few comments. I'm so glad you told us about this ... but it is teaching me to add my blog name to every single picture. BTW, I *always* add the blogger's name to anything I pin, *always*. But asking first is nice, too, I'll start doing that. Thanks for sharing this, Mary

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  4. I hate the country code redirect thing, but pinterest I love. I've told my husband that if he ever needs present ideas for me, then he should look on my boards! Sadly I just don't seem to have much time for it all at the moment.

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  5. You sound very sane about this! I think people get uptight about having their ideas stolen, but as long as it redirects to you, it should be ok I think?

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  6. another one to add to your list is .co.nz

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  7. Thanks Pam, I'm not using Pinterest yet. I was bumped out the other day when I found out you are forced to have a Facebook or Twitter account to join. I did check though and one of my pics is on there - unfortunately nothing I made myself.

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  8. Thank you Pam, for this post i had no idea about this thing at all. I once saw a work of mine on a Japaneses site, had no idea what they wrote by it`s side? but they gave my Art site address thus i didn't mind very much
    When i spoke about your Blog in mine i gave your blog`s address and i heard some of my Israeli readers started to visit your blog. mirjam

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  9. Interesting post Pam, I have joined Pinterest but don't use it that much. I know that at least one of my projects is on there, because you asked me Pam if you could pin it, but no-one else has ever asked!

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  10. I shared this information with my readers and linked back to you. Thanks again for teaching me about this. Hugs ~ Mary

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  11. Great post and etiquette reminders Pam! Thanks! :)

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  12. Thank you Pam! I can't seem to get anything but the .com to work for me but I appreciate your thoughts on this subject. I haven't made up my mind if I like Pinterest or not. I also see from time to time just my images/graphics and no linkback which is a new issue that I hope Pinterest will address at some point.

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  13. Very nice post. I like pinterest as a way to organize blogs and websites I'd like to look at in more detail later. I also like it for color inspiration etc. I don't have a facebook acct. (call me crazy...still weirded out by it) I opened a twitter account that I have NEVER accessed. Once you open the twitter acct you can sign in to pinterest w/ your email. I like so much that you share your web courtesies in this blog enty. I do feel bad that peoples etsy projects (items for sale) are pinned for idea stealing. I didn't notice but I had did it on repins and didn't notice. So much to think about with this stuff!

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  14. very sensible ! I have a blog but don't use it much ! I pin a lot , but not to steal , just because I like something , the colors , patterns , ideas ; and then I never get around to it ! I go to the blog and pin directly from the page ; don't know if that is best or not ; my thinking is that it goes to the 1st person blogging about it ! I did hear some folks chatting on facebook that they are getting porn pics on their pinterest feed ; I am not and pray I don't !
    I am going to pin this sensible post so maybe some more folks shall read it ! and GET IT !!!! :D

    http://pinterest.com/harleywife57/

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  15. Hi Pam, Thanks so much for this tip. I try to say I don't worry about how many folks look at my blog, therefore I don't even advertise. But, there is something addictive about just wanting to see if anyone out there likes what you do...is it worth my time? I've always wondered how to track how many times an idea is passed on and this answers the question.

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