How many pins is too many?

Don't look at me like that.
I know it sounds like a really dumb question.

I'm talking about Pinterest of course. Pins on pin boards. How many is too many?

I was tooling around Pinterest today. I get a weekly email showing me boards I might want to follow. The message is assembled based on my pins and 'likes' on the site, and, I don't mind if they keep track of that kind of data. Considering the kinds of things I pin, I think it's pretty harmless. We're talking about art and fashion dolls, clothes and kitchens, favorite movies and Marilyn Monroe. These are the same things most every other pinner on Pinterest is interested in. I'm sure of it. A flock of folks obsessed with pinning. Why it has become a twenty-first century sport!

Sampler Blanket from Ravelry

So, you're probably wondering why I ask this question. Okay. I'll tell you.

Labores De Aguja. It means "needlework" in Spanish. A lovely needlework image was offered under the "Boards To Follow" section, so I clicked on it. The name of the board was "Labores De Aguja" and there were 9,572 pins. Nine thousand, five hundred and seventy two.

Holey mackerel! It would take two days to look through 9,572 pins!

This got me to thinking about my own pin boards. I'm not in a profession that would make Pinterest useful to my business. I simply love dolls, fashion and art, and any combination thereof. However, I had recently capped my board, "Lookbook As I See It" at 1,000 pins. I realized that was enough. I even considered that it is too many.

Then, today, while researching for this blog post, I saw that my "Type & Art, plain & simple" board has 1,098 pins.

Oh, yeah. Clearly, I need to sort through them and create new boards that are more specific. Maybe one for "Type" and one for "Art." I have one dedicated to "Watercolors" and it has definitely made it easier to find an item than, say, having to pore through a thousand pins. Yep. I think I'm gonna do that.

I don't know if other folks use their pin boards for reference. I often refer to my "Good Eats" board for those saved recipes. And, my board, "My Style & then some..." has been a lifesaver when shopping. I always have to show the stylist what I want at Supercuts because I don't always get the same stylist. And, I pin clothing purchases so I can refer to them when I'm shopping if I want to match color or some other little detail. I actually use them.

Who knew?

So, as I question my own use of Pinterest, I realize I must also edit my "Fashion Dolls" pin board. That one has more than 1,600 pins, and that's waaayy too many! How am I going to divvy those up?

Well, I guess you can figure out what I'm going to do during my down time today. Yep.

Sift and sort my doll pins. It's sort of like pulling weeds. It's an opportunity to bring order to something in my life, and considering there are so many things I have no control over, it's nice to be able to do this and see the results.

Enjoy your day!

And, hey! Thanks for stopping by!

my most pinned pin on Pinterest

Pinterest was launched in March of 2010. For the first couple of years you had to be "invited" to join. I requested an invitation on a couple of occasions after I discovered the site in 2011, but I never received one. Then, finally, in December 2011 they let you in via Facebook and this pinner was born!

In the first few months, I was obsessed, which I wrote about here. I overcame the obsession and began to use Pinterest for my own purposes (mostly dolls and clothes) and now it is my favorite inspiration board. Like Facebook, I visit Pinterest almost daily. I "pin" things to bookmark them and I really do return to my boards on a regular basis. Lately my watercolors pin board has been my favorite inspirational board. And, my photograph board. There is so much to learn about both of these subjects and it's delightful to have one place to put all that stuff! It beats rifling through a drawer of file folders!

So, this post is about my "most pinned pin." That's it, right there. The haircut. It's pinned to my style board and, as of today, has been pinned 2,200 times and liked 491 times. And, it's evoked quite a conversation of comments about short hair, particularly pixie cuts. It seems that young women are eager to try the pixie cut but are afraid it won't look good on them. I don't think anyone looks bad with a pixie cut. That's just my opinion, of course, but every woman I've known of any age who got her hair whacked off into a pixie discovered it is the most flattering cut of all.

The only thing I know about the young woman in the photo is that her name is Ema and she is from Romania. I found the picture on a photography blog that included about 20 photos of this lovely young woman, apparently shot in the spring of 2012. This particular photo appealed to me because she's wearing red lipstick and glasses and I think the contrast makes for a really great portrait! Oh! And, I love the haircut!

I'm not entirely sure how they keep count of who pins what, but it really doesn't matter. What became clear to me since I first started this pinning thing is, it's all about connecting to people who share your views. About art. About fashion dolls. About personal style. About a great haircut!

Who could ask for more? Certainly not me!

Who gets paid when you pin on Pinterest?

I have 2,059 followers on Pinterest today. I don't obsess about it like I did here, so, when I reached the 2,000 benchmark sometime last week, it was a surprise. I know it doesn't matter in the overall scheme of things, but it matters to me because it reflects my connection to the rest of the world. And, I like that about Pinterest. Sharing ...

Around the time my counter crossed that 2,000 mark, I received a message via e-mail from Pinterest addressing the "testing" of what they're calling "promoted pins."  In the back of my mind, I knew it was just a matter of time before PAID advertising came to Pinterest. And, that message explained how the test would go.

Then, while catching up on my e-mail this morning, I was lead to this article about Pinterest. The article came from AD AGE.

Pinterest Will Test Promoted Pins -- but Won't Charge for Them (Yet)
By Cotton Delo, Published September 19, 2013
Part of Social-Bookmarking Company's Inevitable March Toward an Ad Business

So, now I have questions. How will that affect the overall appearance of Pinterest? Will the "advertisements" appear as pins? Don't a lot of advertisers already do that? Don't a lot of pinners already do that for a lot of companies?

For example, I have a pin board for Soft Surroundings. It's a catalog of fashions for women and the home and seems targeted to middle aged folks and I receive e-mails from them as well as printed catalogs via USPS at home.  By pinning the items I like to my pin board, aren't I already "advertising" for them? If someone "repins" from my board, then goes on to purchase that item, shouldn't I get a percentage of that sale for promoting the item that lead to the sale?

C'mon now! Aren't those "pins" advertisements?

You bet they are!

I have pinned things to my personal style board and actually purchased an item after pinning it. And, I've done this more than once! My most recent "Pinterest Purchase" was this sweater from Garnet Hill. I love polka dots, so as soon as I saw it, I pinned it. Then, it just wouldn't do but I had to have it. Click. Click. Click. And, that adorable garment is at home, waiting for cooler weather so I can wear it!

A valid pin leads to the web site where the item is/was available, and it's merely a click or two or three and it's on its way to your address! Aren't advertisers already benefitting from Pinterest this way?

You bet they are!

It will be interesting to see how this goes. It is, after all, "social networking." We gravitate to those pins, pinners and pinboards of others who SHARE our style, interests and ideas. Marketers are itching to figure out how to make money from that. Me? I'm happy to have so many followers!