| URL | www.pinterest.com |
|---|---|
| Registration | Required |
| Available language(s) | English |
| Created by | Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp, and Ben Silbermann |
| Launched | March 2010 |
| Alexa rank | 196[1] |
| Current status | Open beta |
Pinterest is a vision board-styled social photo sharing website and app where users can create and manage theme-based image collections. The mission statement of Pinterest is to connect everyone in the world through shared tastes and the “things” they find interesting. Pinterest is managed by a team based out of Palo Alto, California. Noted entrepreneurs and investors include: Jack Abraham, Michael Birch, Scott Belsky, Brian S. Cohen, Shana Fisher, Ron Conway, Kevin Hartz, Jeremy Stoppelman, Hank Vigil, and Fritz Lanman.
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Users label and create theme-based image boards. Users can populate their own boards with media found online using the Pin It button.[2]
Pins show up on the homepage through a Pin Feed that takes into account timing of pin, re-pinning activity, 'like' activity, and comment activity as well as your personal interests based on the board/pinners you follow.
Pins may be divided into pictures, videos, discussions, and gifts. A pin is an image added to Pinterest.
Pictures consist of subcategories of: architecture, art, cars & motorcycles, design, DIY & crafts, education, film, music & books, fitness, food & drink, gardening, geek, hair & beauty, history, home décor, humor, kids, my life, women’s apparel, men’s apparel, outdoors, people, pets, photography, print & posters, products, science & nature, sports, technology, travel & places, wedding & events, other, everything.
Gifts are subdivided into: $1-20, $20-50, $50-100, $100-200, $200-500, $500+. [3]
Pinterest is created with the aim of ease of access with further instruction under what is Pinterest?, pin etiquette, help, press, team, terms, etc.
Pins may be added from a website using the “Pin It” button or as an image uploaded from a personal computer.
A Pinterest member may create a board. A board is a set of pins created on any given topic. Suggested boards include: products I love, favorite places & spaces, books worth reading, my style, for the home, food.
A pinterest member may also “like” a pin which is saved to their homepage but not “re-pinned” for their followers to automatically see.
Pinterest can be accessed by adding the “pin it” button to the desktop bookmark bar, “follow me” and “pin it” button added to personal website or blog pages, and Pinterest for iPhone available through the App Store. Pinterest can also be followed on the official blog, Twitter, and Facebook. [4]
Pinterest allows users to follow other Pinterest users. A Tastemakers page exists to suggest relevant users to follow.[2]
Pinterest users may also follow boards of other Pinterest members, not necessarily following the user on the whole but instead this singular board.
As of December 2011, you must request an invite in order to join Pinterest. Log in can be done using a social media account, either Twitter or Facebook, or you can login with the e-mail address associated with your Pinterest account. Your profile picture from either associated social media site will also be used as your Pinterest thumbnail picture, but can be changed by uploading a different profile picture directly to Pinterest if desired.
Work on Pinterest began in December 2009 and the site achieved closed beta status in March 2010. The site proceeded to operate in invitation-only open beta. Later, the site made registration possible after an email request. On 16 August 2011, Time magazine published Pinterest in its "50 Best Websites of 2011" column.[5]
The Pinterest app for iPhone is developed by Cold Brew Labs and was last updated in August 2011.[6] The company also has a mobile website.
In October 2011, the company secured $27 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, which valued the company at USD$200 million.[7] Earlier in the year, it had been valued through venture financing at only $40million. [8]
Accoding to an article on Techcrunch.com titled, "The Rise of Pinterest and the Shift from Searching to Discovering", Pinterest’s user growth rate is what Facebook’s was five years ago. Earlier in 2011, it was valued through venture financing at $40m and, most recently, just a few months later, at around $200m.