I have to admit, I’m guilty of following every start-up with a quirky name, and signing up for an account or beta if it’s available. I’m constantly hungry to try out every new-fangled concept developed by a 20-some year old.

Who comes up with these names, seriously?

An app that lets me pay my bar tab from my iPhone? Another e-payment tool with a social plugin that auto-threatens my friends if they haven’t paid me? Oh, the name of your startup sounds like a Pokemon?  So innovative.

I heard about Pinterest a little late in the game (they’ve been around since early 2010), and mindlessly signed up for an account. To begin with, they get major cred for allowing you to sign up with your Facebook account. Not only do they please me by making my obsessive-compulsive process of signing up to everything that much faster, they get access to my entire friend’s list in return. It’s a fair shake in my book, if my book was entitled “Please, take all my information, I don’t care.”

I’ve been asked by enough people, “what’s the big deal about Pinterest?” to have to write my point of view on the matter.

• It’s a social network that’s actually successful in getting people to whip out their credit cards.
  Since the beginning of time (well, in terms of social media time), companies have been trying to find ways to make money from virtual communities of people who aren’t there to spend their money. Businesses ask themselves “How do we sell stuff on Facebook?” all the time. It’s like trying to push a square peg into a round hole, so it’s no surprise that most companies tend to fail when these are their goals and expectations. Pinterest seems to have grown into a social marketplace, and my guess is that this is the way its creators meant for it to be.For god sakes, they’ve got “Gifts” as part of the main navigation. They also include price range as one of TWO ways you can sort through ANYTHING on the site (the 2nd being by category). And on top of that, one of the few ways you can customize your pin is by adding a price to it.

Make that Money, Pinterest.

• Bitches love it.
  The market for distracting girls on the Internet is tiny. You’ve got social bookmarking sites pining for other types of attention spans. Tumblr hosts a growing teen population and Reddit‘s got web-savvy males wrapped around their finger. Pinterest offers a diversion that caters directly to the emotional needs of women. Right now, they have an estimated 80% female user base. They use it, they find it fun, and they can’t stop talking about it.
  
  Source: Google Ad Planner
  

• There’s no room for “blah, blah, blah”
  Visual sharing is growing as a more popular means of expressing yourself. Instagram is seeing tons of growth along with Pinterest – both focus on the casual observance of images. There’s no room for chatter, and chatter is generally the reason I think people are getting exhausted with these huge social networks (looking at you, Google+). Imagine millions of little ants, busily working in silently repinning visuals.  It’s not directly social, so there’s no pressure to communicate with others, or keep up with a discussion thread. No one is hurt by not being “followed” back. We’re just building this place out to be our personal creativity hub.
  

• Hoarding is fundamental human behavior.
  We’ve all collected something at some point in our lives. I’ve got a giant container of interesting matchbooks I find at bars and restaurants and another one for wine corks. I’ve got all my movie tickets since middle school. As a kid, I collected pogs and Pokemon cards until my parents found the right moment to throw them out once I started liking boys (I’m still mad about that, guys… don’t think I didn’t notice.) Pinterest lets me hoard stuff in a much more sustainable and organized way. I made a theme board of my favorite television actors. Why? Because it’s the acceptable adult version of clipping out pictures of cute boys I liked from Tiger Beat and plastering them all over my bedroom wall.

• In addition to catering to people’s need to collect, Pinterest rewards you by allowing others to provide feedback via likes, comments, and re-pins. I love it when people “ooh” and “ahh” at my wine cork collection (ok, that never happens, but it’d make me feel awesome).

They’ve got a good recipe for success and I truly don’t believe they need to broaden their demographic to make that success sustainable. Young women with potentially disposable income will continue making Pinterest a hot topic, so keep the wedding, fashion, and recipe pins coming, ladies. Brands and businesses – prepare to cash in.