Have you guys ever seen those images on Pinterest that say things like "Please be courteous. Do not pin more than 10 images from my board. Or if you do, follow me first." One of those appeared in my feed last night.
Honestly, I didn't pay any attention to which blogger had posted it, but I know I have seen it on several occasions. Every time I see it, I think "why would they post this?" Don't get me wrong – I am not criticizing anyone for posting it. I just totally don't get it. I wonder why anyone would care how many images somebody re-pinned from their boards? I would never ask anyone to follow me if they don't want to - that leads to followers you probably don't want in the first place, so what's the point? It's good for me if people are driven to this site, but re-pins, whether you follow or not, are the valuable thing, not followers. So I don't get it. It also seems kind of bossy to me, too, since the vast majority of their pins aren't even the work of those pinners. I don't get how someone has a right to tell others what they can pin or not on a public site. What am I missing!?
If I am wrong and am missing something, you guys can illuminate me. But you will never hear it from me – pin away, whether the pins lead you back to this blog or not.
UPDATE:
Here is what I found when I search "Pinterest Etiquette" on Pinterest - this is a tiny sample and pretty much shows how some people (usually, but not always, those with small followings who do not use it for business) feel:
I'm not looking to make enemies, and am just following up with more info. For those who agree with me on the issue, you'll probably laugh like I did at this response:
All of these are brand spanking new to me. What do you think? I love them all!
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I don't get it either. The person should be happy to have an over abundance of pins because it leads people to her blog! So basically this person doesn't want the traffic unless they are following her EVERY post? WTH? .....I guess we should just say ok, so I guess we wont follow you nor will we repin your stuff. Her loss.
Strange someone would feel this way....especially like you said, most times it isn't even their work. I have always taken it as a compliment when someone repins something I have pinned, as if they are saying," like your taste, thanks for sharing"
Here's the reality of Pinterest. If they are my own images and I pin them - which means I am somewhat bragging. Hey, look at my great photo's of my room, house, trip, etc. The balance of pins don't belong to me anyway. Pinning them is a way of saying 'oh, I am so inspired and want to share with you too'.
Pin away......... life is too short for such silly rules.
I've seen that by a few people too, I think it's rather arrogant. Especially when the pins aren't original to them (things they've pinned).
1st time I saw it was through a notice that the person re-pinned one of MY pins---???
I'm with you, I don't get it either--
Catherine
I don't understand it at all. It's ridiculous! I love the pins you shared here. I hope that I never see one of those images. I'm off to pin 11 images just for fun. I'm quite the rebel.
I think the only reason may be that they don't want 100 notifications in their email all at one time (if they have notifications sent to email). Other than that, I agree with everyone else .. these aren't their own. Maybe they do feel that they've spent time compiling a board and then its just all taken at once?
Catherine
You are the Pin-Master! Beautiful images!
I find this interesting as well. I have Pinterest Boards but don't really understand the ideas behind it other than I make the board as an actual place to actually save ideas I want to implement in the future. How do repins affect someone? Is it a clue to what people are interested in and therefore would help a blogger decide ideas for posts? I am not a blogger, just a reader. I do regularly pin from this site because, frankly, your material is astonishing. Pamela
Holie Molie...it takes "all kinds" I guess. I loved every one of your "shots" today!!! franki
Stacey this does seem quite strange. I mean isn't the idea to drive traffic to your site which will happen when others pin your image??
I do not spend much time on Pinterest because I find so many gorgeous things on my friend's sites to pin over to my boards.
xoxo
Karen
The Arts by Karena
I think the reason most of the people who limit the number of re-pins an individual can make is that they feel it has taken a lot of work and time to create their boards and if a person is re-pinning dozens of pins at one time it's like "raiding" their boards. I personally don't care how many images a person pins from my boards.
I can only speak for myself, so here goes! I spend countless hours seeking out pretty, unusual pins and then "arrange" many of my boards to be visually pleasing. When someone comes along and pins entire sections of those boards, it's distressing...50, 60...even an entire board ~ in just minutes. Some of my boards are more random, so it's no big deal. When it's copying, and/or powers-pinning, it hurts!
Huh?? Really people really do say that? I have never seen that, but guess that means I dont spend enough time on Pinterest and maybe thats a blessing in disguises..lol.
Geez, if you ask me that is ridiculous. If that is their biggest problem...they need to get a life. Who cares if they pin 20, 2 or 200.
It's all about sharing pretty things isn't it?
So obviously, I agree with the majority of these comments. I was reading a lot about it last night because I was curious, and it seems that the people who are offended are so for the reasons described by the last anonymous commenter here. I'm so sorry it is distressing to some people, and wouldn't want to make anyone distressed. I hope that you can try to understand that people don't mean it that way - I really don't think they are trying to "steal" or raid. They just like the content and realize that Pinterest was founded on the basis of sharing. If you don't want that, you'e supposed to make a board secret, not block people. Of course you can do whatever you want, but I hope everyone can come to see that it's probably not really anything worth getting so upset over, IMO.
Stacy
Gorgeous images as always! How much do you love the upholstered sofa in the kitchen - beautiful!!
xo. Leslie
Segreto Finishes
i have seen that as well and wondered if you don't want your pins repinned then make it a secret board, that is what I do for myself and clients. I am all about sharing that is what pinterest is about, if I keep it secret it is to not share what I am working on for someone else, it is to honor their privacy. If you pin it, it is public material so Pinterest is not the forum for you if you do not want people to pin your pins. IMHO
I've never seen the pin etiquette but I'm pretty sure they are aimed at me. Some people I follow and I just love everything they have pinned and then place them on my boards where they most fit in. Others I stumble upon and love everything they have pinned so I re-pin and either forget to follow or just don't add for whatever reason.I think it's pretty ridiculous that people claim all the pinning is hard work, um come on people, Pinterest makes it pretty easy and painless, even adding from other websites is super easy. So, I say block away if you must because chances are I won't ever notice. lol
I'm with you Stacy, I don't understand it either, and haven't seen those before…I'm always flattered when someone repins images I like…
Your previous commentor Lori T just totally cracked me up! Anyway--
I just wanted to check back into your comments on this topic--I was curious about this topic too, Stacy.
I forgot to add in my original comment that I was actually reprimanded once by a woman after repinning just ONE pin because I didn't identify it as HER pin.
I don't think it was her original work~just a pin even she repinned!
WoW--did I actually upset her whole world--?
I deleted the pin after I found I couldn't remove her nasty attachment/admonishment to MY pin.
Catherine
If someone doesn't like me pinning too many of their pins, I respect that and just move on to all the other gorgeous boards on Pinterest. People have their reasons, and I don't judge.
^^^ I want to be that calm about it, but I it really bugs me. It seems so clearly against the Pinterest Terms of Service, too....interesting argument anyway!
Stacy
I LOVE your blog and have turned many people on to it. I looked forward to it every day and pin many photos. I am also thrilled when someone pins something from my board. I take it as a compliment that they like my taste...
I don't 'get it' either. I had never come across this before but thought it was a compliment if you re-pinned public images.
I pin by country. Some countries, like Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have beautiful scenery but photos are few and far between. I managed to get around 70 or of each by Googling and searching 500px and Flickr. In the same period of time, I could find thousands of well-travelled countries.
Some guy raided my Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan boards. I let it go. Then he came for Singapore and Hong Kong (late at night and very fast as if he was expecting a block). Those places are much easier to find photos to pin. So I went to his board to see what he was doing. He seemed to have a special interest in Nepal, he sounded like a tour guide. I was a bit weak in Nepal, so I did the obvious thing: I started following several of his boards. I pinned everything he posted.
Another thing I noted: right after this, it was like I reached some kind of threshold for Pinterest and my traffic exploded. Within a few weeks I had hundreds more followers. So maybe his raiding caused this?
Frau Katze - that is really interesting. My feelings lately are "who knows" and "I give up" trying to figure their algorithm out. I did read that pinning a lot helps, which I guess is obvious. Hadn't heard about raiding though - very interesting!
Stacy
Stacy - It might not have happened if I hadn't already had a large collection of 60K pins.
Maybe it was a coincidence. I'll never know,
The guy seems to have gone, or become inactive. Think about it: if your only time investment is raiding a few boards, maybe you just don't have what it takes to be long term successful. Maybe you did it on a whim then got bored.
Since then I have had not exactly been raided but.people may pin 15% of a board. If it's got 1000 pins that's quite a few. But at least that person considered what they wanted, not just grabbing the entire thing. So far, I've blocked no one. I'll see how it goes. My traffic remains high. There is action at least once every few minutes.
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