Mirror, mirror on the wall/Who's the coolest SNS of them all?
Pinterest, as a new report from ComScore recently indicated. Since reporting began about a year ago, the image- and video-sharing site Pinterest has experienced exponential growth of 4,377%. Yes, that was percent growth. Facebook may have more U.S. users at 155 million, but no one can argue Pinterest's growing attraction among social media users.
Why Pinterest?
Why the rapid growth? A few factors might be in play.
- Acclimation to social sharing When Twitter hit the stage in 2006, the world hadn't yet become accustomed to rapid information sharing and 24-hour social networking. Barriers to entry included a personal inclination towards privacy and the lack of a smartphone. Today, however, while many consumers filter the information they share publicly on Facebook or Twitter, the concept of sharing personal likes and dislikes online has become part of our cultural moeurs.
- Simplicity While Facebook has continued to complicate its privacy settings and added a vast array of new ad streams and features, Pinterest is relatively simple to use: see something pretty, pin it. Setting aside the copyright issues, which are still cause for concern and still quite serious, the basic utility of Pinterest is something your grandmother would be inclined to do.
- Self-expression While other sites are designed for users to share location, activities and even family information, Pinterest tends to focus on items and ideas that stir the user's interest. It is less about what we had for breakfast and more about what we are inspired to make of our lives.
Buying Power
Hold on to your seats; there's more. Pinterest users are second only to LinkedIn users in terms of the Buying Power Index. Pinterest users, it turns out, spend more money more often on more items than on any of the other top five social networking sites.
Not on Pinterest yet? If you have a highly visual brand, take a look at what your competitors are doing on Pinterest. Here is what other brands are doing on Pinterest, plus a well-done SlideShare on using Pinterest for business.
