Peeling The Pinterest Onion - BrainJuicer

Peeling The Pinterest OnionTom Ewing, BrainJuicer1

Ain’t No Party Like An S Curve PartyAstonishinggrowth, hugecoverageFlatter growth (still a Top40 site worldwide)2

But It’s Not Just Ordinary People Who Are Interested…3

Lots Of Different Copying Going OnContent on Pinterest– “My inspirational poster got 50repins!”Using Pinterest– “I just joined Pinterest, all myfriends are on it.”Behaviour on Pinterest– “You’ve got a board for fashioninspiration? That’s a great idea”The Buzz Around Pinterest– “I just got sent an article aboutPinterest – it’s grown by 4000%!”4

DECISION

Content On Pinterest6Date

The Layout8

Boards: Pinterest’s Secret Killer App? Boards reduce the social cost of sharing. So the ratio of sharing (repins) to likingis higher on Pinterest than anywhere else.9

Using Pinterest10Date

So Why Did It Spread?“Women appeal!”“It’s about discovery not search!”“It’s individual not social!”“People saw other“Organizing people things using is it, appealing!”“It emphasises copied them… pictures!” andworked out why“There’s no flaming or socialpressure!”later!”“It’s easy to use!”“It grew organically!”11

A Post-Facebook Social Network Many of the fast-growing newer communities of interest use Facebook as alaunchpad.12

Communities Of Friendship The anthropologist Mimi Ito hasidentified two distinct kinds –communities of friendship andcommunities of interest – withdifferent cultures Ito: “People you went to school with…versus people you wish you went toschool with” Communities of friendship – Facebookor local equivalents - account for thebulk of social media activity Strong links to offline social groups Documenting lives and experiences asthey happen. Tend to a monopoly.

Communities Of Interest Most of the post-Facebook success stories are communities ofinterest Content-sharing and creating networks Cohere around themes or topics: online connections as valuable asoffline Emphasis on creativity, sharing, commenting. Documenting interests and aspirations. Tend to a proliferation of niches.

Behaviour On Pinterest15Date

The Culture Of Pinterest The most popular pinned word? “Love” The most repinned words? “Recipe” and “Chicken” Distinct cultures emerge within any social network. Pinterest is unusual for the degree to which it’s shaped these in itsuser design…16

Fun!17

Fast!18

Easy!19

Pinterest: The Hype22

And so this happened…Source: Mashable, February 201223

The Pinterest News Cycle24

A comparison point…#38 Global website“Organise and share thingsyou love”Users pin, like, repinCore audience: 25-34 yearold womenKey boast: “Hockey stick”growth“Pinterest infographic”:92,000#35 Global website“Follow the world’screators”Users post, like, reblogCore audience: Millennials(under 24s)Key boast: 15bnpageviews a month“Tumblr infographic”:4,00025

CascadesTumblr isn’t a perfect comparison, but it’s enough of acontrol that we can see marketers’ Pinterest interest as acascade.26

Directed Or Undirected?Content on Pinterest– Undirected (rapid rises and falls inpopularity)Using Pinterest– Directed (slow uptake, not manychoices)Behaviour on Pinterest– Directed – thanks partly tointervention by Pinterest itselfThe Buzz Around Pinterest– Undirected, like most hype27

After The Dust Settles Pinterest didn’t take over theworld… …but it is still useful. Seems to have found its niche asan interest network Explicitly designed for copying Boards give it focus as aresource and archive Window on how people thinkabout and sort things Very strong traffic driver forcertain types of brand (media,fashion)28

The End29Date