No interest in Pinterest

As a Mar/Com professional, I spend a significant amount of time engaged in conversations on social media platforms.  Some I love (Twitter serves up a rich source of information in a clear, concise way), some I hate (I've quit Foursquare twice, but they keep reeling me in. I. Don't. Know. Why.), some I'm still on the fence about (Google+ ... plus plus plus. Is there an echo in here?), however most I continue to review and refine and employ best practices as I learn or uncover them.  I manage two company blogs and one personal one; one company Twitter account and one personal one; two Facebook pages and one personal one; two LinkedIn company pages and one personal one; one YouTube channel; and two Google+ pages and one personal one.  There are more, but those are the ones I contribute to multiple times per week.

As each new platform emerges, I either dabble or dive in to determine if it offers me a viable medium for telling my company's story, engaging my company's market in conversation and/or creates value for my team.

Pinterest has me shaking my head.  Seriously people, what do you see in this?  It's like all the stuff that annoys me about Facebook all lumped together.  I asked our HR Manager (her office is next to mine) and she loves it.  I asked a part-time member of our customer service team (her cubicle is outside my office door) and she loves it, too.  Apparently, they learned how to make a sock bun from Pinterest.

I'm not crafty or a scrapbooker, so maybe that's the problem.  Or maybe I don't like shopping enough.  Or, maybe my appreciation for cupcakes isn't high enough to elevate them to the balloon animal of the pastry world.

I've decided to cast a questioning net wider than than talking distance of my office.  I thought Twitter sounded ridiculous the first time I heard about it.  Andy Van Oostrum had just taken the role of AMA Programs Chair and Russ and I met up with him at Powell's coffee shop to discuss our plans for the coming year of PD workshops.  Andy checked his phone, then told us why.  I was skeptical, but followed the activity to watch for opportunities that complimented my marketing plans.  Soon after, Russ and I organized a PD workshop featuring the people from Pollinate and the convinced me to give it a whirl.  I've been a fan since.

If you "get it" and think I need to too, please enlighten me.  Otherwise, I see no viable B2B application and will move on to tackle what's next.

And I shall never know what a sock bun is.