Download Pinterest for iPhone

Pinterest is a visual social media platform that lets users pin images onto their digital boards. A user can have any number of boards and have any number of pictures pinned on each board. “Boards” help with organising or categorising images. Users interact among themselves by liking, repining, and commenting on other users’ pins.

A pin is essentially an idea or thought a user saves in visual form. Pins usually link back to their source destination or site they came from, helping a user learn more about the image. If the pinned image is a shopping item, following its source link would reveal where and how to buy the product. Some product pins may let users buy the item right on Pinterest.

A board helps save and organise pinned images. A board could be created for any and every type of picture. For instance, if a chef who frequently uploads food images would like to pin images taken during a recent vacation, he could create a separate board so that those images are differentiated from his food pictures. Boards could be visible and also be “secret” so that only the uploader and invited people can see the images.

A hashtag on Pinterest helps a user locate relevant content or images. For instance, clicking the #healthyrecipes hashtag would most likely present the user with images relating to healthy cooking and food. Hashtags are usually keywords or phrases and are part of the pinned image’s description.

Lens helps a user point an iPhone camera at any object and discover images inspired by or relating to the object. For example, if it’s pointed at a specific food ingredient, the Lens would find pinned recipes that use the ingredient. The Lens comes in handy when one would like to learn more about any random thing.

A promoted pin is a paid pin used as a promotional tool by individuals and businesses. These pins don’t randomly show up. They are based on the interests and activities of a user on Pinterest and elsewhere. For example, if a user recently browsed through televisions on an e-commerce store, the promoted pins on his feed would be or relating to TVs.

To quickly follow and unfollow, the Pinterest app provides dedicated buttons. Users can follow a user and all of his/her boards, or opt to follow only specific boards. A user’s home feed usually displays pins from topics, boards and people followed.

A buyable pin is any pin by a merchant selling goods on the platform. Users can buy any number of pins from any merchant. However, to become a merchant, there is a review process to ensure the products on sale are appropriate and safe.

A verified account helps distinguish the Pinterest account of a celebrity, media or brand from fake or fan-made accounts. These verified accounts are denoted by a checkmark next to their names. General users would not have checkmarks next to their names even if their accounts are verified.

Images pinned on Pinterest are typically not an infringement of copyright as the images link back to the source website. However, some website owners may still object to images from their website being pinned on the platform by other people without their solicitation.