Came across this today and thought it was a really interesting idea to consider. Mark Johnson has used Pinterest Boards to create a resume online, which is a way of presenting his professional portfolio in a unique and dynamic way. Have a look, I think this is the kind of thing we need to start considering as it takes a platform and uses it to tell a story in a way that the platform may not conventionally encourage.
Yesterday I finally decided to see what all the fuss regarding Pinterest was about – it seemed to me like yet another micro blogging, photo sharing site, similar to Tumblr or Flickr.
The site says it aims “connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting.” They do this buy managing theme based image collections which they can add to by uploading media or sourcing online stuff and ‘pinning’ it on their board which can be viewed and added onto specifically themed ‘boards’. Pinterest can be added to Facebook and Blogs for ‘following’.
Wikipedia says – While “pins” can come directly from the user, one of Pinterest’s main features is the ability to see what others have pinned, and in turn, users can “re-pin” such media to their own boards. Pinterest allows users to follow the activity of other Pinterest users. This essentially allows for a more centralized way to browse and bookmark the web using the interests and likes of others. A “Tastemakers” page suggests relevant users to follow. When viewing the site’s homepage, a user sees a “Pin Feed” that shows activity among the boards and pinners that the user follows.
So, I headed for the website, looking for the ever present ‘create an account’ link – but alas, I was stumped and thought perhaps I was missing something, some kind of elusive piece of architecture that only the most indie hipsters could perceive.
The only thing I could find apart from ‘Login’ was ‘Request an Invite – so i clicked on that’ despite feeling like one of the losers trying to get in with the elite, cool kids.
To register for Pinterest, new users must receive an invitation from a friend already registered on Pinterest or request an invitation directly from the Pinterest website.
Okay, well I don’t know if any of my friends use Pinterest but today this little, almost surreptitious cult like invite dropped into my inbox:
I’m really intrigued by this extra step you have to take, this anticipation they create by making you feel like your joining some kind of elite club that must deem you worthy to pin stuff up. It’s quite an innovative way to present a site which has potentially millions of users who are interacting and sharing and connecting – it’s neat and quite secretive, its layout is simple yet elegant and it has a code of etiquette - its high tea at the Windsor instead of $1 7/11 dishwater in a paper cup I guess?
