Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Pinterest Pet Peeves

Like a lot of people, I love Pinterest! It is a source of inspiration for anything from crafts, to parenting, to photography and so much more. It is a way to keep the things I love organized and usable. It is also an escape to browse mindlessly at the end of a hard day. But not everyone uses this tool to its full potential. Two of my biggest Pinterest Pet Peeves have fairly simple solutions that make it so much more valuable to the user. So here goes:



Pinterest Pet Peeve #1: Not changing the caption!

Okay, so if the pin goes to a recipe for banana bread and the caption says "banana bread recipe," you obviously don't need to change the caption if you don't want to. But if the pin is a picture of a kitchen and the caption says "our kitchen cabinet remodel" and you pinned it because you like the light fixtures, change the caption! It will benefit you to change it so that you remember why you pinned it and you can actually make use of it!

As another example, I have some of my photography on Pinterest, including photos of my daughter that have captions like, "My sweet baby girl!" I'm flattered if you like my photos and want to repin them, but please change the caption as it pertains to you and how it inspires you, or why you repinned it. Last time I checked, I was the only one in labor with her for 2 whole days, so "my sweet baby girl!" doesn't really apply to you! ;)

Pinterest Pet Peeve #2: Not linking a pin to its original source.

Always give credit where credit is due. This applies to Pinterest, too. If you are the original pinner, pin to the original source. And if it is in a blog post, pin to the actual post and not the blog so you (and other pinners) don't have to search the whole blog to find what you pinned.

If you are repinning, check that the pin goes where it should. I know, it doesn't always. And sometimes you don't have a lot of time and pin it just because you don't want to lose it. But try to go back and do a little research when you have time. Try to find the original source. It will help someone else find where they can buy it/get the tutorial/learn how to do it etc. and also give the appropriate credit to the creator.

Did you know that using Google you can search by image instead of text?! It is amazing! Go to Google. Click Images. Click the camera icon in the search bar. Then search by the image you're looking for. It is, surprisingly, really accurate! And it often helps me find an original source. I use this to pin directly from the original source and then go back and delete the one I repinned that went somewhere else.


Okay, I'm off my soapbox now. Go on! Get pinning and use Pinterest to its full potential! Give credit where credit is due! And while you're at it, come find me! :)

3 comments :

Sonya said...

I couldn't agree more with you on both of these topics! I hate when I click on a pin and it doesn't go where it should and I have to search myself for something. I will usually delete that pin if I have repinned it and pin the original source and site myself. Sometimes I don't always have time to click on a pin to see where it goes when I repin it so if you see any of mine like that let me know so I can fix it!!!

and I had NO IDEA about searching by an image on Google! I am going to try that right now. Thanks for the tip.

Kristen said...

Ditto on your pet peeves, especially pinning to the original source. I see lots of bloggers not getting credit for their awesome work! I didn't know about searching Google using images. That's awesome. Thanks for the tip!

Laney said...

Amen to both of these!!! It is SOOOO annoying when I put a caption specific to me on a pin and someone else just leaves it when they repin! Especially when I tag a friend in the caption and they leave the tag when they don't even know my friend!!