Top 5: Pinterest

While users have to request an invite to join Pinterest or receive one from an existing member, the site is free. It also encourages users to freely exchange their own photos of crafts, baked goods, tattoos or other interests, which others may “repin” to their boards.”

“It is fun. For decades, people have gotten out their billfolds and shown off their favorite nieces and nephews,” Potter said. “This is just an extent of that function, in my opinion. It’s people saying, ‘This is who I am and this is what I like.’”

In the United States, Pinterest users are overwhelmingly female. But in the United Kingdom, it’s actually more evenly split among men and women.

Potter said he wasn’t scared off because Pinterest is often tagged as a “women’s site.” Similarly, he said, library users aren’t evenly split among men and women.  

“I always want to try it out and try to figure out if that’s where the library users are going to be at,” Potter said. “Every dabble I’ve had in social media has been a result of me being the library director. Whether it’s for women or not, if there’s a new social media phenomenon, I’m jumping in with both feet.”

Users are coming to think of the site as a one-stop shop for ideas and inspiration, whether it’s a DIY craft project, a way to revamp your backyard or ideas for a new outfit. Smith said the site is great because it allows uses to “pin” an idea and then look back later to remember where it originated.

Smith’s personal account showcases recipes and reports, trends and monitoring tools for social media.

“I have a real fascination and love for social media and how it’s changing the way we communicate,” she said. “For me, Pinterest is a real extension of a conversation. It’s just a great bookmarking site for helping your friends and family out.”

The Fort Osage School District Pinterest account has three goals, Smith said – get more information out about upcoming events; share educational information sites, such as sites where children may play educational games on their home computers; and parent information/resources on getting children ready for school, natural disaster preparation and other topics.

“We’re always looking for ways to reach out to our community and to our families,” Smith said. “Pinterest is a growing social media site, and it’s just another way that we can share and get information out to our families.”

While the U.S. uses the site to share crafts, interior design, wedding, hobbies/leisure, clothing and recipes, U.K. audiences focus on venture capital, public relations, content management, design, web statistics/analytics – and crafts, of course.

Potter was recently at a conference in Philadelphia, and while dining at a restaurant, he noticed multiple tables of diners taking photos of their food. It’s likely that those photos were later uploaded to Facebook or Pinterest – or both, Potter said.

“That’s something that people just didn’t use to do,” Potter said.

Social media sites are important for libraries, he said, because they need to remain relevant in these changing times and see where their patrons are at.

Also in Philadelphia, Potter heard this statement at a library conference: “If you aren’t on Pinterest yet, you need to be.”