Pinny-Pintrest

Younger people today, especially those under 25, are extremely mobile because they can be. To borrow a philosophy from Marshall McLuhan (whom I've been reading a lot for class lately) "media is the extension of man’s arm,” and in young people's case the translation is quite literal. My aunt recently said, "I like going out to lunch with you, you let me check my iPhone at the table." It was an interesting statement because I know no different, whereas my father tends to get a little frustrated if I set my phone on the dinner table. Young people live with mobile devices strapped to their hands; it only makes sense that advertisers use that to their advantage.

I'm not going to go into the fine workings of QR Readers and strategy and things like that...that's not what this blog is about...however, I want to take a moment and look at what applications like Pintrest and Twitter are doing to young people. We share ideas in an instant and constantly "re-tweet" or "re-post" and it's great, but what we're actually doing is creating a personal encyclopedia of sellable information. For example, I recently discovered that I collect notebooks. I pin them on my Pintrest account and follow other people that collect notebooks. Not only am I active in an online community of notebook collectors but I am also linking web pages and photos, which link me to retailers who sell those notebooks. Now I have a place to find knowledge about new notebooks and have a place to easily purchase those notebooks. 

I am mobile in this process because I take my Pintrest with me on my laptop and iPhone. There is no definitive location for this activity, so it is therefore mobile or nomadic. I am active in this process because I am creating and communicating with a community of individuals with mutual interest.

Unlike other social networks, i.e. Twitter and Facebook, Pintrest combines the things that kids love: visual stimulation, variety, and repetition. 

·      Users "pin" public photos from websites and write a short (140 character, because that’s all children can bare to read) description; any public photo is fair game

·      Other user, whether they follow a board or not, can "re-pin" another users photos. Pintrest then tracks who pinned what and where they pinned if from. When a user "re-pins" something they have the option to change the description, or offer their opinion.

·      Much like Twitter, items that are pinned often show up on the "Everything" board or the home page. This is Pintrest's version of "trending" topics. 

Once again we are sharing what we see, creating a community and offering our opinion. This isn't a new concept...adults do that too...People under 30 just do it a lot more, a lot faster, and on a much bigger scale.

  Notes: If you don't know what Pintrest is you need one.