Some of you may have read posts on Facebook over the past few weeks talking about Pinterest, the latest social media craze.  The site was created on Thanksgiving day 2009, and despite a slow start, it has since gone viral.  Its recent growth is rivaling Facebook’s early days.  After trying it out for a week, I can understand all the buzz– the site is easy to use, somewhat addictive, and syncs easily with both Facebook and Twitter.  Plus, sharing images of kittens dressed as Santa and mouth-watering food is way too much fun.

The website is a basic image sharing site with a clean, simple design.  It’s based off the idea of a digital bulletin board where you would use pushpins to display things. On Pinterest, users create “pinboards” where they are able to “pin” images they find on the web to a board that others can see.  The signature feature of the site is the “Pin It” button.  When you see any image you like on a website, you simply click the “Pin It” button and to post it to your board. The button serves as a mini-app on the user’s toolbar so that people can pin an image or video from any site around the web.  This “decentralization of the user experience” is part of the strength of Pinterest.

Pinterest is inherently social with the ability to follow users, “Like” pins, and “Repin.”  You can post your favorite images to your Facebook wall or Twitter feed as well.  So far, the only downside I’ve found is that you cannot pin an image directly on Facebook.  Still, you can download it from Facebook and upload it to a pinboard.

The Pinterest app is extremely successful, occupying the number six spot on the iTunes social store.  This is part of its success– it is addictive across all channels.  Despite the hype, it is much too soon to call Pinterest the “next big thing” in social media.  It may be just a fad, but its accessibility from any site is certainly a unique strength that will influence other future social media endeavors.

Although I may have made you want to join the fad and get on Pinterest right away, unfortunately, you still need an invite from an existing member to join.  My advice- blow up your Facebook asking for an invite– you’ll thank me later. Happy Pinning!

What do you think of Pinterest?  Do you think it will remain popular or is just a fad?