#193 – Is Pinterest Social Media? - a podcast by Kate Ahl

Is Pinterest social media? Can I just use Instagram instead? What does Pinterest offer that other social media sites don’t? 

This is a question I’ve received a lot recently. I’ve had people ask me to talk about this so that they can share it with their business friends who don’t use Pinterest because they view it as another social media platform. 

Spoiler alert: it’s not! 

If you’re totally new to Pinterest, we have an email newsletter series that will help you get up and running super fast. From getting your account set up to creating your first Pinterest boards, this series will walk you through the foundation for Pinterest, step-by-step. 

Once you’ve got your Pinterest foundation solid, make sure you download the Simple Pin Pinterest Planner. 20+ pages of monthly trends, stat tracking, checklists, and much more. It will keep you moving forward throughout the year. 



Is Pinterest Social Media? If Not, What Is It? 

I know that a lot of you are brand new to Pinterest and don’t really know what exactly it is. Or maybe you have only been using it personally and don’t know how to use it for your business. 

Pinterest is different from other social media platforms and that benefits you as a marketer. 

So what is Pinterest? 

According to Wikipedia…



Pinterest, Inc. is an American social media web and mobile application company. It operates a software system designed to enable saving and discovery of information on the Internet using images and, on a smaller scale, GIFs, and videos.



On the Pinterest website, Pinterest is described as a visual discovery engine for finding ideas, like recipes, home and style inspiration, and more. 

Pinterest is a visual version of Google. You can use Google Images, but it’s not the first option that pops up. 

Pinterest users are drawn to the platform because of the images. They can search for an idea, product, or dream and see it right away. 

What Makes Pinterest Different? 

In order to understand the difference between Pinterest and other social media platforms, we need to also understand what those other social media platforms are used for. 

The Instagram Platform

Instagram is a platform that allows you to follow people or brands, whether you know them personally or not. 

It gives us an inside look at people’s lives through posts on our feed. If we don’t follow someone specific, we won’t see that person’s posts in our feed. Most of the feed content is time-based (i.e., showing up in the feed very close to when it was originally posted). 

In addition to the Instagram feed, the platform also features Instagram Stories, where you can view 15-second “commercials” from the people and brands you follow. 

Instagram is definitely social – the whole point is to interact with the people you follow. You can buy things through the ads, but the main goal of Instagram is to keep people on the platform by entertaining them via the content. 

The Facebook Platform

Facebook allows you to have a business page. You can post updates about your business, share links, and share yours, or other people’s, content. 

People don’t often see business pages in their feed since you have to “pay to play” for the most part. 

Facebook groups are more community-based.

Further episodes of Simple Pin Podcast: Simple ways to boost your business using Pinterest

Further podcasts by Kate Ahl

Website of Kate Ahl