16 Ways Educators Use Pinterest

http://mashable.com/2012/04/10/pinterest-teachers/

Why Pinterest Is A Big Deal

It was surprising a few months ago when Pinterest became one of the top ten social networks on the web. A recent Experian study says Pinterest has jumped to the #3 social network position, ousting LinkedIn and falling only to Facebook and Twitter. Pinterest's traffic was up almost 50% from February to January 2012 and Pinterest's unique visitors increased  from 11 million to 17.8 million. One week during January yielded 21.5 million Pinterest visits, which is 30 times what its traffic was six months prior. 


People are still most engaged on Facebook, spending an average of 405 minutes per month on it.  They're spending about 89 minutes per month on Pinterest. But all you really need to know about Pinterest is in the chart below. Here's what its total visits look like since last year -- the past three months are nearly a vertical line.


http://www.businessinsider.com/pinterest-is-the-3-social-network-2012-4?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=SAI%20Chart%20Of%20The%20Day&utm_campaign=SAI_COTD_040612


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/pinterest-is-the-3-social-network-2012-4?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=SAI%20Chart%20Of%20The%20Day&utm_campaign=SAI_COTD_040612#ixzz1rKeVmclJ

Why Pinterest is so addictive?

Click on the headline or http://mashable.com/2012/03/20/why-is-pinterest-so-addictive/ to see the graphics.


I ask myself this question every day (and every night at 2 a.m. when I’m still pinning). But seriously, what is so great about spending hours browsing other people’s images?

Column Five created this infographic to examine the Pinterest addiction that seems to be spreading like a zombie apocalypse virus. Proof? Pinterest users spend an average 98 minutes on site per month, third only to Tumblr (2.5 hours) and Facebook (7 hours). Antidote? None.

Beyond the data, the company examines why Internet culture is so fascinated with pinning. It posits that digital hoarding has a lot to do with it. On Pinterest, we have free license to create an entire board dedicated to “teal-colored guitars.”

Then there’s the issue of social media fatigue. Is Pinterest just different enough from other social networks that it frees us from incessant updates and checkins? Or has it just replaced one addiction with another — a sort of social media gateway drug?

You be the judge. Just remember: Denial is a red flag.



Image courtesy of iStockphoto, PinkTag, Infographic courtesy of Flowtown, via Column Five

Peugeot uses Pinterest to launch puzzle competition

Peugeot Panama has launched a Pinterest-based competition that asks people to complete puzzles by repinning images of its cars.

Last week the brand created several boards depicting different models with pieces missing.

People can search for and find these pieces, pin them on their own boards and share it with Peugeot. The first five people to complete their boards win prizes.

Though a visit to the brand’s Pinterest page leaves you somewhat confused at first, since several boards have been used as placeholders – separating the cars into different price brackets.

One such board is titled ‘Starting at 35,000us’ and is toally blank, with no content pinned. It's an interesting way to use the space, but isn't immediately obvious.

On the bottom row (on our screens at least, see below) – the first four board titles are used to explain the contest, with another placeholder then showing the ‘contest boards’.



People are asked to click any board to find out where to look, which is explained as follows:

This is a 5 piece puzzle of a Peugeot 3008, as you can see there are 4 pieces missing. Look for them in our website (peugeot.com.pa) or in our Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1797346790), pin them in your own board and share it with us. The first 5 people to complete their boards win!"

Using boards as placeholders is certainly one of the most creative uses of Pinterest we’ve seen so far, but sadly it’s overshadowed by the fact that the puzzle itself isn’t very clear.

It’s difficult to work out how you’re supposed to get involved, and even the brand itself has had to step in to inform a participant that the goalposts had been changed:

Hi Julia!, thank you for participating in the Peugeot Puzzle Contest, sadly as you may know, Pinterest changed our layout so we were forced to adapt the contest again. Please feel free to leave your board and start pinning again. Best Luck!”

That said, Peugeot Panama uses a conversational tone in its outreach above and is trying something new - so should be applauded for doing so.

However, it might transpire that a simpler competition, with mechanics that are easier to understand, might be more successful in driving participation in the long run.