You just mastered posting and now you need to pin

4:01 PM, Nov 1, 2011   |    comments
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You just figured out facebook and now you're starting to tweet so you think you're social-media savvy.

Then along comes something new: Pinterest.

"I use facebook and I use Twitter and Pinterest is the newest addition to my social networking," Sarah McAffry said.

In fact, she said Pinterest has become her favorite.

It's an online pin board, a visual way to organize and share.

"Facebook is more of a conversation with people and Pinterest is primarily image based. So it's a different type of social networking but you still can follow your own friends on your board so it's a very similar experience," McAffry said.

"It's not just about sharing what's happening in your life. It's about sharing things you find that inspire you," explained Gavin Baker. 

He is the Director of Digital Media at Moxley Carmichael in Knoxville, and he's on Pinterest.

It's a website where you don't post, you pin.

"It's a virtual inspiration board," Baker explained. "Before where you would pin a photo from a magazine or a color swatch or maybe even fabric to a board to say this is what I want to do, now you're actually pinning photos you find on the web. And the added benefit is people can actually comment on them and re-pin your ideas."

You can access Pinterest on your smart phone, but it's visual so it really looks better on the big screen. But before you can access it at all, you need an invitation.

"It is that limited invite only, has that feel of a club or something that is just exclusive," Baker said.

You can request an invite at www.pinterest.com or email Gavin Baker at pinterest@moxleycarmichael.com and he'll send you an invite.

"Once you're in, you can invite some of your friends to join you and see their design inspirations," Baker said.

The invitation model serves a purpose.

"You're only sharing with your friends so you're starting with a small group of people and so you can kind of make sure that the quality of the images and things stay the same," he said.

Pinterest lets you organize images in broad categories and then you create customized sub-groups.

"Maybe it's items you want to make at your house, maybe it's recipes you would like to cook, maybe it's products you would like to buy. And then you organize those and share those later," he said.

Sarah McAffry said, "As a photographer I'm able to upload my own images to Pinterest."

She also checks out what other people have pinned.

"Pinterest is great for all kinds of DIY projects. And I've used for those my daughter's first birthday party and to decorate my home," she said.

McAffry has some advice for new users.

"Make sure that you actually complete some of the projects that you're pinning, you know, making the recipes that you're pinning and that kind of thing," she said.