Pinterest: what it is and how it works

You want to try to use Pinterest, even just to understand if you like it or not? Perfect. In this article we will first tell you what it is, then we will also explain how it works.

PS: We take no responsibility if, after reading our guide, you develop any form of addiction to Pins.

What is Pinterest

Pinterest is a social network based on images, or rather, on the visual content, which allows its users to pin down the most interesting content on the web on virtual whiteboards.

In English, the term pinning translates to pin, in fact Pinterest means “pin an interest” (pin + interest).

The topics that are the most popular are recipes, fashion, travel, and more generally anything that contains a list or a ranking. But don’t think that there are only cakes, hairstyles, places to visit or endless lists. As soon as you sign up, you will understand that the interests of the community go far beyond the simple dessert to prepare or the next shoes to buy.

Remember: there is no limit on the interests you can “pin” (pin) on your wall. You are therefore free to add as many Pins as you wish, identifying a specific category for each of them so as to keep the blackboard in order.

How Pinterest works

Before you can start using Pinterest you need to register a new account. Once you’ve signed up, you can start populating your virtual board with i Pin, that is, the contents that you find most interesting and worthy of being noted. To save one you simply have to touch it and press on “Save”, choosing from time to time on which board you want to insert it.

Furthermore, it is also possible to interact with them: for example, you can leave a heart to show appreciation, share the link and thus spread it to other users, or hide the topics you are not interested in.

We will now explain to you in detail how to use Pinterest if it’s your first time, and to do so we will start right from the registration.

Find out more: How Clubhouse, the new social network, works

Signing up

To subscribe download Pinterest from the Google Play Store (Android) or the App Store (iPhone), then launch the app and select the method you prefer to complete the registration:

• Email address
• Continue with Facebook
• Continue with Google

Read also: How to access Instagram without registration

Once you have entered your email or selected one of the two profiles of your choice between Facebook and Google, enter your name and surname plus your age, then press “Continue” to successfully complete the registration.

First contact

At the beginning you are asked to answer some questions such as “How do you define yourself”, “What is your country or your region”. Based on the answers you give, the system works out the topics that might interest you the most. Among those proposed you will have to choose 5 (or more), then tap “Next” at the top right for allow Pinterest to personalize your feed.

After a few seconds the feed is ready. Below you will find the menu, which consists of four items:

• Home: The home page of the feed
• Search: Search for new content
• Notifications: the space where you can see comments or updates from other users
• Saved: here you see the Pins that you save from time to time

Create a board

Per create your first board on Pinterest follow these simple steps:

1. Tap an image that intrigues you among the many in the feed
2. Tap on “Save”
3. Type the name you want to assign to the board where you want to save the Pin
4. Press on “Create” to complete the creation of the board

You can view the virtual whiteboard you just saved on “Saved”. Other similar content appears under the Pin, but you can see much more if you select “More Ideas”. Also available is the “Organize” function, which allows you to move Pins, create subsections with respect to the main category / bulletin board, share one or more contents, or delete them. The “Notes” option, on the other hand, can be useful for jotting down something you want to remember or a to-do list.

Interact with Pins

The interaction with the Pins does not end with the simple saving on the board. When you see a content of your interest you can also:

• download the image to the internal memory of the device by touching the three dots at the top right and selecting “Download image”
• copy the link to share it or store it using the “Copy link” command
• add a comment by pressing the icon at the bottom left
• share it with any other app (WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, etc.)
• follow the “pinner” (the user who added the Pin) by putting “Follow”
• visit the website that hosts the Pin by tapping on “Visit”
• add it to your favorites via the star icon
• enter a note by tapping “Add a note”

On the same topic: How to increase Instagram followers

Publish a Pin

Anyone who is subscribed to Pinterest is free to publish a Pin, then inserting it in a new board. Here is the procedure to do it:

1. Go to “Saved”
2. Tap “+” at the top right
3. Cheap with Pin
4. Select “Allow” to allow the app to access photos and other media stored on your phone
5. Choose a photo or video and tap “Next” to continue
6. Assign a title to the Pin, add the description and destination website (if you have one), complete the alternative text and press “Next” again
7. Tap “Create Board” to add a new board that hosts the Pin
8. Tap on “Create” to complete the creation of the board and publish the Pin

Pinterest Business

The standard version of Pinterest, the one described so far, is for personal use. But there is also Pinterest Business, the version studied by the developers of the US social network for companies or creators who wish to be known by a potentially huge audience.

Between main features of Pinterest Business there are:

• Pin exclusive formats
• better interaction with subscribers (Pinterest will show Pins to people who can like them the most)
• Pin promotion through ads
• detailed statistical data on interactions
• collaboration with Pinterest Partners

To start using Pinterest Business connect to this page and sign up, or use the “Switch to a business account” function in the “Account settings” of the app.

Read also: What is and how to use WhatsApp Business

Unsubscribe from Pinterest

If after trying it you feel that it is of little use to you, thus preferring the other social networks, you can delete the account in less than a minute:

1. Go to “Saved”
2. Tap the wheel icon at the top right
3. Tap on “Account Settings”
4. Scroll down and select “Delete Account”
5. Click on “Continue” to confirm your desire to delete the profile along with all your Pins and boards
6. Follow the instructions sent by email to the email address you registered with

Note: if you think you might go back to using Pinterest in the future, deactivate it instead of deleting your account (Account settings> Deactivate account). This way no one will be able to see your Pins or your profile, and the account will no longer be linked to Instagram, Etsy or YouTube.

Conclusions

Our Pinterest guide ends here. We hope to have answered all your questions comprehensively, and helped to understand a little better how what is definitely an atypical social network works. After signing up, you can follow us and look at our pins directly on our Pinterest page: pinterest.com/giardiniblog

Do you plan to use it? And if so, what is the reason that pushes you to prefer it or even just combine it with other social networks? Let us know by leaving a comment on the article on our social networks, we are curious to know your opinion about it.

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