Looking for images? Pinterest over Google

The default search option for just about everything is always Google - we all know that, and it's very difficult to break that ingrained habit. However, perhaps it's time to explore Pinterest in a little more detail. As you know, it's a tool that allows you to 'pin' images that you upload yourself or that you find on the web to have easy access to them in the future - it's a bookmarking system for pictures basically. There are a number of ways that you can search through the millions of images currently pinned. The search box is in the top left hand corner, and you can either type in your search term, or use the category approach:

If you decide to keyword search, Pinterest gives you suggestions on ways to narrow your search, either by subject or pinners:

and you can also choose to search pins, boards, pinners and interests as well.

You'll also find, contrary to Google, that you really only get good high resolution images, which is because that's generally what Pinners will add to their collections. Google on the other hand will pick up anything that it finds, irrespective of quality.

There's also a very nice feature in Pinterest that allows you to see similar and related pins, so it's easy to track down other boards that cover the same interests or subject matter; great for browsing.

Social networking isn't forgotten of course, because you can follow other individuals, or contribute to specific boards, sharing comments, opinions and ideas. There's also a 'home feed' so that you'll see the images that the people you're following are adding, so you don't miss out on the good stuff. Pinterest has recently added the ability to send direct messages to other people on the site

I don't see Pinterest replacing Google any time soon, but it's certainly becoming a popular alternative. It has more than 70 million registered users and 20-30 million active monthly users and accounts for 90% of all social media shares on the web. (stats) There are also 30 billion pins to date, with 750 million boards. (stats) If you haven't looked at Pinterest, or it's been a while since you visited, it's worth taking a look at.

Comments

[Theo Kuechel]

An interesting approach Phil, but limited if you wnat to reuse images. Unfortunately there is no "filter by licence or usage rights" available on Pinterest. Of course there is the Wikipedia Wonderland group which return images you can reuse, or a search on open, public domain or creative commons may also return some useful stuff.

[Phil Bradley]

Theo - I would strongly recommend *against* using the Google licence filter option. It simply doesn't work properly. If it finds any image on a page that is CC licensed it assumes that they all are on that page.

I'd be much more inclined to use Flickr with their CC option, which is a far superior search function if that's what you need, or look at specific search engines designed for exactly that purpose. :)