Pinterest has taken over my life.
Facebook, Twitter, Myspace (whoa), Snapchat, LinkedIn, etc... All of these social media sites take a little bit more time and effort to maintain, so why bother when a new ones comes along?
This is usually my attitude. However... when Pinterest came-up and I requested my invitation and waited anxiously for it, I knew I'd found love. A giant jackpot image bank for me to save pretty pictures in categories, find thousands of specific images and spend hours of countless time looking at clothes I can't afford?? Swoon. On any given day I probably pin 20+ images, articles, links, ideas. I keep a good 5-20 tabs open of things I meant to read further into and forgot about, chasing some other white rabbit. And I'm amaaazed by the 27,660 followers I have right now.
I was at an event this spring and met someone. After telling her my name she said "YOU'RE Kelley Bozarth?? I follow you on Pinterest! You have the best pins!" It was one of the more memorable moments of my life.
Enough bragging. Even if I didn't love it as much as I do, I'm starting to realize how important Pinterest is for anyone - visual arts or beyond - from a marketing standpoint. I mean... everyone's doing it. I read something the other day that Pinterest (and Facebook) now drive over 20% of all overall traffic. In July 2013, Semiocast revealed there were some 70 million users worldwide. 70 million. That's twice the population of California.
Anyways, who am I to talk about internet marketing - I'm sure Matt has some things to say about this. Bottom line : I love pretty pictures and relevant imagery. Pinterest is a God-send for those reasons alone.