I'm Addicted

The latest buzz in social media is about the image sharing site called Pinterest. Every one is using it and talking about it. Its a board where users can like and share the image which other users have liked or post a new image. Its addictive for users and an excellent tool for showcasing one's business specially if your business can be represented in images e.g. food, fashion, architecture. It is directing huge amount of traffic to sites whose images are pinned and repinned hence become the most popular pins in the site.

Just when we thought sharing on Facebook or Flickr is cool Pinterest has taken sharing to the next level of fun. For that matter this site has made sharing within the site and from outside far more easier than any of its predecessors in the social media space. A "Pin It" button on your browser makes it easy to share any image of liking and comes along with signing up with the site rather than a separate app. What more I just discovered that video sharing and e-commerce is integrated within the site. So as you browse through and like something you can also order some in. Not sure if its available for all the countries but am sure as it spreads and becomes popular more and more companies will jump in the gun and embrace Pin-commerce (just coined the term for fun:))

I have certainly got addicted to it and I hear many others say the same. It is a pool of images connecting people who like the same kind of art or food or clothing. I am sure some people must be networking over this platform as they comment over the same image and realize the similar likings whether they are in America or Africa. As many bloggers and social media experts swear and bet that this is the next best thing to FB and Twitter; I place +1 to those comments simply because this is refreshing and am loving it!

Human Behaviour & Social Network

Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin & the rest are viewed as just social networks by most of us. But recently I realised how these networks have tagged on to the human behaviour and thus created a revolution. I had joined Facebook in 2007 to stay connected with mostly my non-Indian classmates (it hadn't picked up among my Indian friends yet). The social network at that time was mostly a medium to get in touch with old school friends and maintain contact with graduation friends, atleast for commoners like me.

Networking has however moved beyond in the last few years. Facebook creators identified an age old human behaviour of curiousity to pry or know more about friends and acquaintances and introduced a unique home-page which doesn't talk about us but what our friends are doing and saying on the network.

Power of Consumers

Till a few years back conversations in marketing were B2B & B2C, today social media has enabled C2B (Consumer to Business) and C2C (Consumer to Consumer) conversations.
Consumers now play a major influence in how & what a company communicates across all media.

Some of the key tools are active consumer forums and most known Twitter, FB and the likes.