Pinterest Becoming a Hot Stop for Aussie Networkers

There is a new phenomenon called “DIY Networking,” because the engines of social media engine can be used by those without much media or technical sophistication, addressing a new “social media audience” that is used to interacting on Facebook, for example.

For networkers looking for a new, hip, and less intrusive avenue of networking than Facebook,  Pinterest is gaining interest in Australia and elsewhere.

Pinterest has been called “electronic scrapbooking,” although with a worldwide audience.

“What I think is great about Pinterest is its amazing ability to connect people in a very non-standard social network way,” said Tony Benner, a public relations consultant. “Clothing retailers, wedding planners and graphic designers are among the swelling business crowd joining the popular social-media site, which lets users ‘pin’ images of items that interest them to their profiles.”

Pinterest Is Engaging

Some commentators are predicting that Pinterest will eventually become more popular than Facebook or Twitter, but Benner said they complement each other.

“With Pinterest, you don’t have to have a conversation and you are not expected to comment every time someone pins something or shares something you enjoy,” Benner explained.

For those just starting out, Benner recommends starting with one or two boards and keeping them fairly general.

“For DIY Networkers, Pinterest is an excellent way of promoting your business interests in a subtle way, but don’t be too blatant or you will turn people away,” Benner explained.

According to trade publication PR Daily, Pinterest is retaining and engaging users as much as two to three times as efficiently as Twitter was at a similar time in its history and accounts for 3.6 percent of referral traffic, while Twitter just barely edges Pinterest, accounting for 3.61 percent of referral traffic.