Why women are pinterested

What do women want? This question has occupied the minds of many a man and, well, some women too. I doubt there’s one all-encompassing answer to this question, but every once in a while, a piece of the puzzle falls in place. The stunning growth in popularity of social networking site Pinterest — especially among women — provides just such an opportunity.

Pinterest is a social networking site that allows you to share the best pictures you come across on the internet with your followers. It may not be as popular as Facebook or Twitter, but around 11 million people are visiting this site every month, according to internet analytics firm comScore Inc. Figures from Ignite Social Media, a social media marketing agency, are even more interesting: women comprise around 80% of Pinterest users in the US where the website is most popular. While the ratio may not be this skewed in other countries, social media experts agree that women are the most active users on Pinterest.

Pink and proud
Not that I needed experts or studies to tell me that. When I started my own Pinterest account a few months ago, most of my colleagues — especially the male variety — said the website was “too girly”. Looking at pictures of cupcakes with smiley faces, cute pets, and innovative bookshelves, I realised there was nothing I could say to counter their comments.

However, Aditi Mittal, a Mumbai-based stand-up comedian, sees no reason to be apologetic about this. “When I signed up for the service, I realised the content was skewed towards women. It’s useful too. I found these really great tea biscuits shaped like tea bags, and immediately baked a bunch. My dad was really impressed with me that day,” she says.

Mittal subscribes to fashion and lifestyle magazines, cuts out pictures she loves best, and puts them up on her wall. On Pinterest, she can do the same thing virtually, browsing through a far larger collection of images, and sharing her favourites with a range of followers.

This habit of collecting things — usually pretty things — is more stereotypically female, says social media theorist Nathan Jurgenson. This could be one of the reasons why more women have taken to Pinterest than men, he adds. “However, I think this explanation could be easily defeated when thinking of design or photography that also involves collecting things, but are not as strongly gendered. Just as good an argument might be that women signing up for Pinterest was a random chance at first, which set off a culture that was further and further reinforced,” he says.

“Whatever the cause, I think the best argument for why women use Pinterest today is because women use Pinterest today. This is likely a stronger motivator than any inherent female drive towards collecting or beauty,” says Jurgenson.
‘It’s less sexist’

A large number of female users has made Pinterest less sexist, and hence safer for women to express themselves than on other social networking sites. “YouTube is literally a free-for-all. Seriously, if I have to watch another set of boobs, I am going to kill someone. Why would I be interested in seeing something that appeals to a 14-year-old boy?” says Mittal.

Another draw for users like her is the fact that the website is not about making friends or expressing opinions. They aren’t worried, like on Facebook, about people who may have access to their personal information. “On Pinterest, you don’t have to make friends and so you don’t have to worry about who posted the image, or who is following you,” says Aditi.

Industrial designer Paavani Bishnoi agrees: “I no longer feel like logging in to Facebook when I am bored. I do not want to know what others are doing this minute. Twitter is all about giving an opinion. Pinterest, on the other hand, is relaxing. It’s just about sharing good stuff. It’s like window shopping on the laptop.”

So what does all this mean for the men on Pinterest? Personally, on the few occasions that I have logged in, the website has hooked me. On my boards are pictures of a monkey created out of Lego blocks, a bean-bag shaped like the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, and a dog paratrooping with American forces.

This is hardly representative, but there is enough cool stuff for guys to explore too. And there’s certainly something to be said for just browsing through pictures without the pressure of having to express an opinion. Perhaps what women like may well define the next wave of social networking.