Pinterest quickly made a name for itself as it climbed its way from an idea to the third most popular social network. Most users do nothing but rave about the network, boasting all the wonderful ideas and recipes they learn from perusing the site.
If you’re unfamiliar with it, Pinterest is a virtual corkboard that allows users to “pin” items they find interesting to organized boards. For example, you can create a board dedicated to recipes, and “pin” recipes you find to your board. This allows users to keep all of their online treasures in one convenient location.
But although Pinterest has quickly gained popularity, some users are finding that there are a few things about the social network that aren’t so glamorous.
New Upgrade, New Sign On Nuisance
Pinterest recently launched an upgrade to its mobile app, dubbed Pinterest 2.0. Though the upgrade allows users to access the app on their iPads and Android devices, one of the biggest complaints is that users have to re-log in every time they access the app. Instead of storing username and password info to make logging on through a mobile device seamless, users are now required to enter their username and password every time they use the app. Though it’s not bad for security reasons, some customers want to be able to easily access the app without having to log in for every session.
Waste Valuable Time
It almost seems impossible to jump onto Pinterest for only a few minutes. Instead, telling yourself you’ll scour Pinterest during the commercials actually turns into you spending hours perusing the categories and creating new boards. By the time it’s all said and done, you’ve planned your wedding, baby shower and next 10 vacations. Though the site is great to make waiting in doctor’s offices or in airports more bearable, some of us feel as if we waste valuable time on the site.
Copyright Conundrum
Pinterest has rules against what can and cannot be posted to the site, and one of those rules requires you to be the sole owner of the images you post. Changes have recently been made to the rules, but some people worry that if they post the picture of the hotel they want to stay at while on vacation, the hotel is going to come after them and sue them for all they’ve got. Though the chances of this happening are very slim, some people use it as a reason not to post anything.
No Business Use
Some businesses look at social networking and wonder how they can use it to make money. Most companies look at Pinterest and cannot factor in how they’ll see a return on investment, so they don’t join the site. If monetary ROI is what interests you, then you may not want to join Pinterest, but if you want to build relationships and showcase your products and services, then Pinterest is a great place for you to do so.
Like every other social network, there are pros and cons associated with it. As a user, it’s ultimately up to you if you want to use the social network for its intended purpose or if you simply can’t get over the issues it currently has. Though there are some things we don’t like about Pinterest, they may be small enough to look passed in order to use the site.
Sarah Dunbar works for the online marketing team at SEOMap. For more information about our work, please visit our website.
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