Please join me in welcoming our newest bot Onyxicon! I met her at Dragon*con a few years ago, when she kindly told me where to purchase the awesome Yoda lanyard she was wearing. Her first contribution to Big Shiny Robot! is as follows:
“Pinterest: Where women go to plan imaginary weddings, dress children that don’t exist, and decorate homes we can’t afford.”
What’s great about this snarky definition of the social media phenom is that it came from the site itself. It is one of the first pins you encounter if you search for Pinterest. Its own users know that, like other social media, it’s a great place to waste time.
It is indeed a place where folks (mainly of the female persuasion) can put up visual representations of…well, whatever they want. Quotes, recipes, decor ideas, crafty projects, weddings…this is what the average non-user thinks Pinterest is all about. And it’s what the typical Pinterest user can’t get enough of.
But what about those of the geeky persuasion? Don’t scoff just yet. In between the “Gardening” and “Hair and Beauty” categories is simply “Geek.” What’s great about Pinterest is that the most popular pins change constantly, depending on the day. You will find a ton of Dr. Who memes one day, or a shrine to the best Star Wars jokes or random images from popular culture, such as Disney characters.
In fact, Cassandra Hipple’s vision brings together the interest of the geek with the interest of Pinterest users. Her blog is “When Geeks Wed.” Pinterest perfect right?
“‘When Geeks Wed’ is a blog to inspire the not-so-average bride or groom with geeky, video game related or alternative wedding ideas, DIY tutorials, recipes and products.”
The intense popularity of Pinterest motivated her to move the blog from Blogger to WordPress, where she utilizes the “Pin It” button.The button is great for visually centered blogs like Hipple’s. Her site’sPinterest page currently has more than 2,000 followers. She said she uses Pinterest almost every day.
“I receive a lot of traffic from Pinterest so I’ve integrated it pretty heavily into my blog,” Hipple said. I’ve got the social share button at the bottom of every post, a “pin it” button that is highlighted whenever you mouse over a photo on my blog and the Pinterest app integrated into my ‘When Geeks Wed’ Facebook page.”
But Hipple also said Pinterest is great for her both personally and professionally. Her sister is a bride-to-be and can give her opinion on wedding pins. She also has a “Geeky Stuff I Love and Want” Pinterest board. My geeky side of Pinterest includes a collection of my favorite games and other silly pop culture images.
Yes, instead of simply snapping shots of your prized game collection, hoping that your Facebook friends will notice and follow it among the multiple posts of “Gangnam Style” video spoofs, you can place your favorite games or upload photos of your own collection where people will actually want to see images. People with your exact same geeky tastes.
Hipple also has some really unique tips for those who want in on Pinterest, but don’t really want to follow “Martha Stewart Living.”
“(Pinterest) can also be a great site for cosplayers to gather images for costume ideas or to put together a costume “Voltron style” this wig from here, this skirt from there, et cetera,” Hipple said. “So if you haven’t checked all your fave sites for the day – because you were actually working at work – you can just get caught up on all their daily pins on Pinterest – plus a few cat photos.”
