What’s the Deal with…Pinterest?

I’ve been seeing a lot of chatter lately about Pinterest from several of the mom bloggers I follow, but upon quickly checking out the site, I wasn’t sure I really understood it. M Booth Digisquad to the rescue! After posting this half-joking Tweet and shooting out an email, several of our Digisquad ladies chimed in that they are big fans, and added some great insight. I’ll let them speak for themselves:

Lauren M.: Heather, Ellen, Gabs, Rachel, Lauren A and I have all been using it. I personally love it. Creating my own mood boards, places for inspiration…it’s quite the rabbit hole. I have noticed a lot of designers and stylists using it.

Heather: I really love it, but I’m still trying to figure out the dynamic between what I pin on Pinterest and what I would reblog on Tumblr. I feel like Pinterest is less selective - I could pin 30 things in an hour, but I wouldn’t post on Tumblr that many times a day. It is also less of a forum for original content and more for sharing links via the corresponding image. I’m interested to see where it goes - I’ve been registered for a while, but just started using it. They are supposed to be doing a redesign this week.

Lauren A.: So far, I love it because I’m a very visual person. I agree with Heather’s point (although I’m not the most loyal Tumblr user so I guess the comparison for me makes less sense) but I definitely pin more than I would ever hit “blog” or “reblog.” I felt a lot of pressure when I first started using it to make sure my boards looked full. I don’t follow many brands yet but I know Nordstrom uses Pinterest to highlight fashion finds.

Gabrielle: I use it more as a personal bookmarking system for things I like (outfits, interior design, recipes I want to revisit). Anything that is highly visual would do well on here. It would be interesting to see clothing stores upload lookbooks and push them out through a team of bloggers/influencers. When you click the image, it takes you through to the original site; however, there’s always the risk that people will only pin and repin and not ever click through to the branded site. This site would be an interesting way to find fans of certain categories (since you get to name your own moodboards) for a food, clothing, travel or housewares client.

Ellen: I use it as a bookmarking system, as well.

Rachel: The reason I joined was because a friend who makes jewelry asked if I would pin some of her stuff to get it out there. I don’t follow any major brands, but smaller brands and fashion sites are taking part.

So there you have it! Check out a collage of the ladies’ lovely Pinterests above (see if you can guess whose is whose!). It should be interesting to see what brands jump on board next.

—Alyssa