With Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus at the top of the social networking rivalry, there’s no stopping other developers from coming up with a new craze that would tickle many online user's fancy. Come to think of it, if you think back four months ago, you undoubtedly never know that there’s such a website named “Pinterest” and yes, it is a social media website.
The website actually didn’t emerge three months ago. It has been online for three years but it was only months ago when it captured the interest of many online users around the world. Just like Facebook and Google Plus, it brings “friends” and “acquaintances” together with a common denominator. For Pinterest though, the common denominator is the interest of its members.
The website has a very simple and straightforward concept. As a social scrapbooking website, users only need to “pin” images of their interests to their virtual boards. These images could come from other websites or members can download it themselves. Other members can leave comments on the pinned images and can even re-pin them on their own virtual boards. It’s that easy.
The good thing about the website though, simple as it is, the website is not highly commercialized. Sure the images points to a new pair of shoes or maybe a new wedding dress design but most images are not redirected to other websites for sales and marketing. Most images redirect to blog posts, photo galleries and personal websites which genuinely talk about real interests by real people.
Knowing how resourceful and imaginative online users can be though, it’s expected that users with sales and marketing intent will find a way to use the website to their advantage. For instance, they can pin pictures of their satisfied customers who are currently using their products, or of their employees who are working hard to deliver high-quality services, all of which links or redirects to their company website which can provide more information for marketing purposes.
One issue that comes up when it comes to popular websites like Pinterest though is the perpetual online enemy – spam. Meaning, some online users with nothing but malicious intent can use the website to post images after images of no real value at all.
But the spam issue is nothing compared to the privacy and security issues around the website. If you Google the many unsatisfied, you’ll find that their complaints are centered into the website’s privacy settings, which is virtually next to none. The fact is that Pinterest readily shares its members’ information to other networking sites without respect to their members’ wishes at all. This might lead to users’ paranoia with regards to their privacy. Next thing you’ll know, you will need system tools like PC Speed Up to clean up your browser’s history because Pinterest might find a way to look into your browsing history and use your personal information and share them to other social networking websites.
When it comes to social networking though, privacy is such a difficult issue. For developers of these social networking websites, there are a lot of things to consider especially with the fact that the connection between an individual’s social network and his privacy is very complicated. For now, Pinterest users should enjoy the perks of their membership in the website but they should also think of their privacy and find a way to make sure their personal information is not shared to strangers.