Pinstagram

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When I asked whether writers should use Pinterest or Instagram, there was a clear winner: Pinterest.

However.

I keep stumbling across articles saying how Instagram is awesome for authors.

What I don’t understand, about either of these, is how they are “social” media.

I get that you’re more visible, building your platform and so forth, but the chattiness of, say, Twitter is not there. (Claims the girl who is on neither of these networks.)

As I see it:

Instagram: A cool place to showcase pictures of your vacation, your lunch, or your cat. Or show off your mad photography skills.

Pinterest: A cool place to create collections of pictures that you like, that you took, or that inspire you. Or all of the above.

How is this social? And why are the articles saying you must be social on these networks…or else? (And what is the “or else”, anyway? Are there social media monsters that will crawl out of my computer and gobble me up? Actually, that’s creepy.)

By the way, I haven’t ignored you, my lovely friends. Pinterest it is. Because you said so.

Here I am… pinterest.com/sarahbrentyn

 

My Sunday thoughts in 200 words or less.

ThoughtBubble

Are you on Pinterest? If so, let me know so I can find you and “friend” you or “follow” you or, um, “buddy” you or “chase” you or something. Also, are you social on there? How? I’ll try my damndest to be social with you.

If you’re on Instagram and really like it, I could be persuaded to join that, too. Let me know…


57 thoughts on “Pinstagram”

  1. Pinterest and Instagram scare me. I signed up for Pinterest, but then I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Now it periodically sends me emails with pictures of castles. That’s cool, but I expect it’s supposed to do more.

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    • They scare me, too. I’ve made no secret of my love/hate relationship with social media. So…Pinterest. Hmm. That’s cool. I do believe it’s meant to do more but castles are pretty awesome. I’ll give it a go. See what happens.

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  2. Yep I don’t get either except I’m there in name only. The textiliste swears by pintrest but that is as someone who is very visual and collects images for use in her work. She’s not social on it in any meaningful sense.

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  4. Hi Sarah,
    I am no wiser than you about the social value of Pinterest or Instagram. I think they work differently over your way, with more benefits, than they do here. But how would I know? I have joined both but don’t use them much. Like so many other things, I’ve much to learn. I’m looking forward to learning from your experiences. More books than dust motes! How do you find time for housework?

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    • Exactly. I see how cool they are but really don’t understand how one would interact with another person on then. Eh. I’m just going to pin things I like. At least I’ll have another little icon. 🙂 I have a lot to learn, too, and not a lot of time so I’ll see how it goes. As far as the dust motes… Let’s just say I have a LOT of books.

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      • I was told that Pinterest is like a digital pinboard upon which one pins things they like: recipes, craft ideas, quotes, articles to read, for example. I keep getting notifications from Pinterest that someone has pinned something the same as I have. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with that information, so I just let it collect dust! 🙂

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  6. I’m on both Pinterest and Instagram and as I see it, Instagram gives me a lot more exposure while Pinterest is research fodder to find things that inspire. Tumblr is the worst social media for me by far because eI just don’t get it and really don’t like the format. On Instagram, I have shared several things and people from instagram have actually bought my work while Pinterest is a quiet hub to put it lightly. Everything I post from Visual Typos, Teactionary and other things I post I put there and it doesn’t register a bleep and I can’t say Pinterest has helped me connect with even one people, whereas Instagram has. I guess more than anything, I just don’t know how to connect with people on Pinterest. I leave comments, occasionally write messages but I already do so many things that investing any more time in anything else is not an option unless I can meet some kickass people, which I haven’t yet. That said, Twitter has helped me tremendously in connecting with people, as has Google +, as has Youtube. But look at how much work I put forth on each channel and you get an idea of how ineffective it really is for me, in terms of sales and exposure, compared to other people. But what IS true is that I’ve connected with wonderful people there. If you notice that I didn’t mention Facebook it’s because algorithms be damned and if you want presence on Facebook, it seems you need to be willing to pay to play. I’m just happy to connect with cool people and help support others in whatever they are into. Bit by bit I’ve learned what connects with people and people care about in each channel, and every time it ends up just being a random aspect of who I am. Twitter I write, write, write, post silly stuff. Instagram I mix it up and share some of my life, much more than is probably healthy I’m sure some would say, on Youtube I talk, talk, talk, and play an occasional song, Google+ requires the most in depth thought and although it doesn’t have a ton of people, the people that I HAVE connected with are truly remarkable and offer a lot of support (with the occasional psycho stalker lol). All this waffling aside, I did add you on Pinterest in the hopes of interacting with SOMEONE lol. Nah, it’s not that dire but I just really don’t know how to get into that platform so I just use it for research, and yes that means there are boards of future projects with hints of what’s bouncing in my brain 🙂 Anywho, just hope you like it 😀 Cheers and happy pinning!

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  7. Sarah, I used to feel the same way. I had a Pinterest account, but hardly every used it. Pinned a few things that I liked and that was about it.

    Then I started writing about social media and marketing on my blog. Did some experimenting and have seen traffic, likes and re-pins increase.

    Here are the links to my blog posts sharing my thoughts on Pinterest for business:

    Pinterest for Business

    Climbing the Pinterest Ladder

    How Many Pinterest Boards is Enough

    I’ve thrown in my thoughts on when to post to various social media platforms.

    I hope sharing these links is OK. If not, please remove.

    My Pinterest account is still a work in progress, and I suspect it always will be. Pinterest.com/aedall

    I have visited you on Pinterest, and ‘followed’ you. Now you need to get some boards built, start pinning your work and the things that matter to you.

    As for Instagram . . . my jury is still deliberating on this one. I use it to share some of my photography, but for now, that’s it.

    Good luck with this journey,
    Ann

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    • Sharing the links is more than okay. It’s awesome. Thanks! I’m looking forward to reading those. Build some boards. Pin stuff. Got it. Pinning my work? Not sure what you mean by that. Like…blog posts?

      Yes. Instagram. I feel like it’s a really cool place to share photos. There is an increase in writers using it with writing hashtags but…eh. I’m not sure. We’ll see. I appreciate the links and will check those out and start pinning! 🙂

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  8. I know what you mean. We authors have to react quickly to these social media changes, don’t we? Here’s my two cents. Find a social media avenue that works well for you and that you’re comfortable. I don’t think you have to have a presence on every site. 🙂

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    • Completely agree. I’d rather be on a few networks and be active on them then have my name attached to accounts I haven’t used in years or I visit once a month. I see people on 5, 6, 7 or more networks and I have to wonder how (or if) they keep up with them. Add the social aspect and I think it’s near impossible.

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  10. For me, Instagram is a fantastic platform for artists of any kind. I get ideas, tips, inspiration and encouragement from like-minded people and have discovered some fantastic artists and photographers. As far as people posting selfies and pictures of their breakfast, I’m just not interested. I use Pinterest as a place to save reference photographs and recipes. Although I did pin things from my blog, I don’t think I ever got any traffic from it. I never bother to make comments, I just pin stuff, so maybe that’s what the problem is. But it just takes up too much time.

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    • So interesting. When I posted that poll, it was pro Pinterest. It’s been almost a year, though, and now a lot of people are on Instagram (or both). Yeah, maybe you’re supposed to comment on pins and that’s the social aspect. ? It does seem like a lot of time…searching, pinning, commenting. I don’t know.

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  11. I enjoy Instagram because it lets me share photos and write a bit about them, as well as direct people to my blog or books if they want to. I hear authors use Pinterest to share images of their inspiration – however, I also heard that copyright applies to images shared there, so I am quite cautious. It’s one thing to share images you like about flowers or weddings or cars, and quite another to use collected images that don’t belong to you to promote your own work. So, while I have an account, I admit I don’t really use it. The thing with social media is to find the channels that suit you and that you feel comfortable with – otherwise it becomes a chore and takes away from writing time, too 🙂 At least, that’s how I look at it.

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    • Eek. Copyright. You’re making me paranoid to pin. Doesn’t it give them credit by linking to where you pinned it from? Maybe I’ll stick to major sites instead of Googled images. What about copyright on your images on Instagram? I’d read about that somewhere… People grabbing your images and not giving you credit or altering them very slightly and claiming them as their own.

      Completely agree. We need to find networks we are comfortable using. I don’t think we need to be everywhere. Spread too thin, in my opinion, and yes, taking away from writing time. Also, life. You know, offline. O_o

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  12. I’m not on Intstagram. Tried but it wanted access to my life so I denied it. Perhaps though as everything else seems to have it what the heck I should go with it. Pinterest I joined some years back. (Irene on Pinterest) But I have to admit I rarely visit it. Today in response to your post I went and looked (amazing I could remember my password as it must be over two years since I visited) but I still don’t know what to do with it and have done little with it. One day I may – perhaps after I read Ann’s links.

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    • I don’t like anything technological that wants access to my life. Very inappropriate. Seriously, I hate that. But, you’re right, I shudder to think about all the info floating around out there. Creepy. I’m not sure what to do with Pinterest, either, but I’m looking forward to reading Ann’s posts. If it doesn’t take too much time out of my life, I’ll do it. At least I’ll try it for a bit.

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  15. I was using Pinterest before only as a way to save my research notes for my scifi work. I only recently started making my boards public, but it does seem to be driving a few potential readers to the blog so I guess it’s a good thing. Like you, though, I am not sure I consider it social.

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    • I see a lot of people who are using the boards for inspiration for their books. So you link to your blog? Another reason to make sure we have photos on each post. Social? Eh. I’ll figure out what that means. Or not. *shrugs* At least I’m there and trying it. 🙂

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  16. I’m on both. It seems I’ve got lots of boards going through time. I set it up for inspiration and writing and when I come across posts that resonate, I send them to those boards for others to see and share. I too don’t have time for the social aspect of those sites but do send things through there. 🙂

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      • I have various boards set up on my Pinterest, which I barely visit, although I have tons of pins because I share many posts that are relevant to my boards by hitting ‘pinterest’ on someone’s blog, then it opens my board headings and I post it to one of my boards that corresponds to the post. Does that help? 🙂

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  18. I’m a horrible resource because I don’t use either for expanding my brand. 🙂 I use Pintrest for drawing resources mostly, and Instagram for pictures of the kids. Writing? Bah!

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    • Completely agree. There are too many platforms/networks and I’ve said before I really, truly believe we don’t need to be on all of them. A lot of experts say we should be everywhere, on everything, but it’s too much. Something’s got to give. And I think I’m seeing a shift to writers only using a few. *fingers crossed* We don’t need to add stress to our lives. I’m trying this one and, if I get overwhelmed, I’ll try something else instead. 🙂

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  21. I’m on both but haven’t really got a clue what I’m doing ha ha. I joined Instagram because ‘they’ told me that’s where the young adults hang out (as a YA author I see why this would be valuable), however, as soon as I joined they all sodded off to Snapchat!! I’ve just upgraded to a business Pinterest and am s l o w l y getting my head around why this is important – as soon as I figure it out, I’ll let you know 😉

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  22. I am on Pinterest and Instagram. I think pinterest works really well for some types of content. Sacha has great success posting her writing tips there. I think it depends very much on types of content. Most people interested in Ireland, for eg, just want to collect pretty pictures, even the fake photoshopped ones, lol! Theyre not interested in reading posts on Irish myths, so I dont tend to get much traffic from pinterest. I use it mostly as a search engine now. Instagram has way more potential in my opinion. Its defo more sociable, and you dont need to be a proffessional photographer, people are interested more in you and what you are seeing/ doing. So I post pics of my uni, my desk when I’m studying, interesting trees or ancient buildings as I’m passing, and providing you use hash tags, it gets seen. Its great for raising your profile but it doesnt support direct links back to your blog, for example, so its impossible to know if it actually drives traffic to your blog or your books. I enjoy Instagram, though, whereas I can’t abide Twitter! 😁 I find it so ANTI-SOCIAL!!! I just use the ones I enjoy now… life’s too short! 😁

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    • I know! Sacha has great traffic from that site. I don’t get it. I guess it is content. So interesting that, overwhelmingly, I’m seeing Instagram as the preferred when, just a short time ago, it was Pinterest. Social media moves quickly. I like the idea of Instagram in theory. I suppose I’ll have to check a bunch out. And completely agree that we need to use the one we enjoy. Twitter can be anti-social… But I think it’s more social than Pinterest is going to be. ??? We’ll see. 🙂

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