lately i have been seeing a ton of posts concerning pinterest etiquette, proper crediting, repinning, pinning with love… any of these topics – you have probably all seen them around too. i love that people in the blogging community are taking a stand against the crazy pinning world and making sure that people are properly crediting where it is due.
but compared to the masses, the blogging community is a minority now that what seems to have been our little secret has gotten out! so i wanted to compile a few of the posts i have read about pinning with love and respect all in one place and then issue a challenge!
first up – the lovely liv lane from choosing beauty has four simple but very direct ways to help keep the integrity behind pinning:
1. be original – credit the link to the original creator!
2. follow the links – even though it might seem like a pain, do a little research to make sure that every pin you repin is linked to the original artist/owner of the image or idea
3. pin the permalink – if you’re pinning an image from a blog, make sure it links to the post it was part of – not just to the blog’s home page.
4. show and tell – if you put a pinterest image on your blog, link back to the original owner of the image & the pin.
click over to her post to read all of it! 😉 liv has such a beautiful blog and outlook on life. if you are truly looking for a blog that will lift you up daily then definitely check her out! she also has a great etsy shop full of beautiful artwork.
killer b designs does it right and shares a great image to pin (from the original source, of course) and shares these quick tips:
1. be descriptive in your comment section! use words that describe the project (yarn wrapped letter tutorial instead of CUTE!) or name the recipe (jalapeno popper pull apart bread instead of dude – i’m drooling on my keyboard) so that they are able to be found when searched for.
2. use hashtags – they work the same as they do in twitter!
visit killer b’s blog for the full rundown on her pinterest suggestions plus a nice graphic to sum up her points!
the pinterest promise
let’s make a promise and help spread the word about it to keep pinterest fun but more importantly to retain the integrity of those pinning and the sources from which all these beautiful pins come!
make thepinterest promise
i promise to…
pin from the original source, meaning that i will verify the original source when i repin something and if a pin doesn’t go to the authentic original source i will find it before i repin it.
properly caption the pin, meaning i will use descriptive words specific to the image and original source instead of generic words.
send people to the source, meaning that i will not post the entire recipe/method/tutorial/idea in the caption and if i repin something that does i will remove this information from the caption and replace it with a proper caption (see previous)
properly promote, meaning that i will not only pin my products to pinterest but i will use pinterest to also promote my favorite handmade shops, online stores, etc.
properly post pins in my blog, meaning i will use the super simple and nifty feature provided by pinterest to embed pins in my posts once i have verified the original source, of course. (click here to see this sweet feature – and my apologies if i am tardy to the pinterest-embedding-feature-party)
if you are making this promise with me, i encourage you to share the badge on your blog! it will link back to this post so that hopefully others will also make the pinterest promise with us and help bring pinterest back to what it was originally meant to be!
psst: you can also pin this image to help spread the word or tweet about this post!
Love this! I put the button my site {right sidebar}
thanks girl! 🙂 xoxo
i have to be honest… all these rules about pinning kind of annoy me. i agree that people deserve the credit for their pictures and projects that i pin, so i do try to get the original link. however, i use pinterest for myself. i like things that i find inspirational or funny or just beautiful, so i pin them for me. i don't do it for other people. so why should there be a rule about how i describe a pin on my board? i describe it how i want to. if i repin a recipe that has all the details in the description, of course i will at first go to the original site but when i pull up my pinterest account to actually make the recipe, it saves me a step.
also, i think people should be more happy about their stuff being pinned than be picky about how people pin it. if somebody pinned my project, i would be honored. i wouldn't feel the need to tell the person how they should have described my picture.. i don't know, some of this just seems a little silly to me.
these certainly aren't aimed at annoying people – i just want to make sure proper credit is given where it is due. so many links on pinterest DO link back to the original source and i want to make sure that if i do honor you by pinning something from your blog that it actually links back to your blog! i think that is important! 🙂 thanks for your two cents girl – i love getting other's POV on stuff! xoxo
i just want to make it clear that i wasn't saying your post or what you were saying was annoying! i've just seen people talking about this a lot, so it's clearly a big deal and what i was trying to say is, i'm really just not sure why… i was more speaking about the issue in general, definitely not your post! i never find you annoying!!! i just wanted to make sure you knew that i was definitely talking about the issue at hand, not you or what you had to say about it.
I have to agree with Jessica. I understand we shouldn't pin dead or broken links, and I do my best to double check, but the point of Pinterest is not to gain a personal following for your blog, etsy shop, or website. Pinterest actually defines itself like this, "Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes." It's for people's personal use to get inspired or get ideas, NOT for bloggers to get their names out there and gain a following. That might be an indirect benefit, but it's not the purpose. I respect people getting credit for their work, and I agree with that, but this doesn't need to be on the caliber of Oprah's "Promise Not to Text and Drive" campaign. And since Pinterst etiquette is such a big deal to so many people right now, what about #3 listed under Pinterest's actual etiquette page? "Avoid Self Promotion – Pinterest is designed to curate and share things you love. If there is a photo or project you’re proud of, pin away! However, try not to use Pinterest purely as a tool for self-promotion." That has been my pet peeve on Pinterest lately.
Regardless of Pinterest's intentions, it is quickly becoming the largest provider of traffic to blogs, handmade shops, and online venues. While I agree that Pinterest is for my personal use and I will pin what I like, I do want to make sure that my pins lead back to the original source. Like I told Jessica – if I am pinning something that YOU made, I want people to come to YOUR page to see it. I don't want them to end up on someone else's page with a project round up or a tumbler or something useless like that. I'm just trying to keep Pinterest happy and keep my personal integrity about it. This was an invitation for others to join – feel free to pin however you like!
i have been thinking more and more about this and wanted to share a couple of links with you about this issue that might inform you a little more about what I was trying to say. i really encourage you to check out these links and give it some more thought.
http://www.livinglocurto.com/2012/02/letter-bloggers-pinterest/
http://www.ohmyhandmade.com/2012/what-we-know/we-the-makers-a-plea-for-a-code-of-ethics-online/
what you decide to do is clearly your decision. i just wanted to present some more information on the issue.
I added your button to my sidebar girl! AMEN! I appreciate all of the traffic that Pinterest sends to my blog, but it can be a little frustrating when somebody copy/pastes your entire post eliminating the whole need to come by my blog.
Thanks for linking to my yarn wrapped letter!! 🙂
Thanks for sharing the button girl! 🙂 I hope we can start some sort of mini-revolution!! 😉
Did not know about the embed feature – totally going to rock my blogging world now. Great tips! Off to pin it!
The embed feature is awesomesauce – I can't believe I just figured it out! At least I wasn't the only one just now finding out! 🙂 xoxo
I was always trying to click through a million links to find the source when I was going to blog about it and half the time it led nowhere…the embed feature rocks!
Great advice on Pinterest etiquette!
Thanks ladies!!
Love this, Skye! I grabbed the button and am cleaning up my boards now!
Thanks Leanne!!
I don't use pinterest but when I get home I am adding this button to my blog for people that do!