The Secret Behind Pinterest

What’s the secret behind the best time suck on the internet? The people. Founder and creator Ben Silbermann lead a discussion about the ins and outs of Pinterest, the site for virtual pinboards. Besides giving the audience insight into how the company was founded, (inspired by Silbermann’s own stamp and insect collections!) he also went into such issues as the copyright question that has plagued the site since day one, and also the overarching goal of the site as a whole, which I found to be the most interesting. “Pinterest helps people discover things they didn’t know they wanted,” Silbermann said. “Our goal is to drive traffic out, asking people to go out and find objects to pin. This model makes us different than other photo-based sites.”

He also shed some light on some of the new features to come, including more indepth profiles, a video capability, and an overall platform expansion that will allow the app to be more mobile phone/tablet compatible.

Do you use Pinterest? You can follow the IPR Pinterest accounts here.

— Contributed by Jessie Boone