MANDAY: A Man’s Perspective on Pinterest

I’m an early adopter of technology when I can be. I like to beta test new apps, and I go crazy trying to get access to new social networking sites to try out.  Anything new and I want to play with it.  Anything except Pinterest.  When I first saw Pinterest, I was not a fan.  I tried it for a day on my wife’s account and wasn’t impressed.  After scrolling through page after page of DIY wedding ideas, home décor, baby animals, dresses, nursery plans, Ryan Gosling, shoes, purses, hair styles, I wrote Pinterest off as something for girls.  The wife kept bugging me to try it out and raving about Pinterest so finally I gave in. The snarky side of me created a board of things with the word poop in them.  That’s where Pinterest and I parted ways for about a year.  As I was getting geared up for Lent this year, Christine suggested I try looking at Pinterest for recipes.  I gave in and gave Pinterest another look.  I made my first board, started pinning, and almost immediately other people were repining…talk about validation.  So I started asking myself why I hadn’t found many other guys active on Pinterest?

With 65% of the users on Pinterest are women who are driving 80% of the traffic, it’s easy to see why some men are hesitant to take the Pinterest plunge, and others have started “Pinterest for Men” sites like Gentlemint, Manteresting, or Dartitup.    While there’s nothing wrong with these sites, I don’t really think they’re needed.  Pinterest is great, even for us.  Here’s how to get started:

-  Find something you’re interested in.  I love to cook, so recipes were my gateway drug to a Pinterest addiction.  I created a board that was specifically for recipes that would be fun to try during Lent, and it exploded from there.  I had tried saving recipes on several sites, in Google Docs, in a binder, and so many other ways, none of which really did what I wanted. Now I open my Pinterest at dinner time, click a board, find a picture that looks good like this:

image via Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

and I’m good to go.

-  Find your friends.  I mean your real ones.  Link your Pinterest to Facebook and start following friends.  This will help you find some cool stuff and learn a little more about your friends.

-  Grow your footprint.  Make new boards.  As you’re making boards, be sure to categorize them so others can find you.  When you find something like a DIY steampunk USB drive, you’re going to want others to see it.  I mean, who doesn’t want to make this :

image via Instructables

-  Build your wish list.  I’m always finding cool stuff I want, but when my birthday or Christmas comes around, I can NEVER come up with good ideas.  So, I have a wish list on Pinterest with things I want, and my wife knows it.  When it’s time to shop, she can pull up my board (and forward on) and I know I’m going to get some cool stuff.  Just because it’s on my list doesn’t mean I’ll get it; I can’t imagine anyone would buy $900 knives like these, but I can dream, right?

image via Amazon, per Deglon

-  Use it to shop.  I can pull up my wife’s Pinterest account when it’s time to get her something that shows how much she means to me, and I know I’m in for a win.  Next month is our 8^th anniversary, and I may have found this on one of her boards

image via Verabel 

-  Replace your bookmarks.  I have bookmarks, but when I go to look at them, they can be overwhelming.  With Pinterest, you can look quickly at the pictures and find what you’re looking for without reading through a list of links.

A new dashboard for Pinterest called Pinerly is getting ready to launch, which is supposed to help organize Pinterest and give you stats on your account.  It looks cool, and I’ve signed up to hopefully get access early.

So guys, if I’ve convinced you to join me as one of the Pinterest minority, follow my boards and I’ll follow you back so we can share some manly stuff.

Thom Crowe

Thom is a native Texan who met a girl, got married, and started a life in Tulsa, the town he proudly calls home. By day Thom works in nonprofit and tinkers in the kitchen by night, secretly aspiring to be a chef. Thom believes eating is a communal endeavor and longs to share his love of cooking with others. In his spare time, he brews beer, studies theology, helps his artist and designer wife, co-organizes Indie Emporium, and is almost always up for trying something new. He has recently launched his blog, MakeItEatIt, where he will walk readers through some of his favorite recipes.

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