Since writing a post with information about my Pinterest finds, I am learning even MORE things that I didn’t know. Thanks so much to all of your comments and discussions for helping me explore this topic even further.
Here are a few more things you might want to know and how Pinterest has changed the way I will blog.
1. Pinterest is so popular now that celebrities and big companies are flocking to it to try to get more traffic, new fans and customers.
Pinterest will become more commercialized and even more popular, therefore more reason to protect your images and ideas.
Like I said last week, the average person probably doesn’t realize the amount of traffic people are getting from Pinterest. In the creative community, the referral traffic is higher from Pinterest than any other social media platform as of now. If you’re lucky, you can get more hits to your website from ONE pin than an entire year of Google search traffic.
(Read my last post on this to see why some people might use your ideas and photos for commercial gain.)
2. There are all kinds of sites just like Pinterest and will likely be more in the future.
Clipix, We Heart It and I’m sure several more that I haven’t heard about are other sites similar to Pinterest. I won’t link to these sites as I don’t want to advertise for them. (You can use Google to find them.)
If you have a blog, these points are more reasons why you need to put detailed information on your photos to protect them.
A logo or simple watermark just won’t due.
Make sure you have your URL, name, project description or the © symbol on your photos. Make sure your Terms of Use or Copyright info is in the sidebar of your blogs as well.
I just searched for my friend Cheryl’s cute Baby Shower Duck Punch on one of these sites. Cheryl owns Tidymom.net and has a VERY popular photo that is pinned all over Pinterest.
Look at where this source from We Heart It is going… Pinterest!
Luckily for Cheryl, the pin from Pinterest goes back to her post. She also has her logo on the image.
This is one of those great photos where you might not need a tutorial to know to add ducks to the punch. So although Cheryl’s cute photo is getting passed around and her logo is being seen by lots of people, she is probably missing out on tons of hits to her blog as well. So there are good and bad aspects to this.
If you care about your photos or creative ideas and recipes, you might want to search these other sites for your ideas and report any mis-use of your images. For example if they are claiming the image as their own, if they copy your recipe into the description or if they are not linking to the correct source.
I know this is NOT possible and sort of a crazy thing to even think about, which is why I’m really down on blogging right now.
I don’t have assistants, I can’t monitor the internet. What about my three years worth of photos on my blog right now? I can’t go through and add detailed copyright info on every photo.
It’s overwhelming.
There have always been bookmarking sites, but this Pinterest craze is causing a shift in the creative community right now more than ever before.
I have so many fun ideas that I’d love to share, but I’d also like to create products out of those designs eventually… so it’s leaving me unsure of where to go from here with my blog.
I’ve been copied many times before and get emails from readers often informing me of people selling my free printables on eBay, Etsy and local shops. I also hear about people re-creating designs I did and selling them in their Etsy shop.
I used to contact these people. It’s crazy when I have to call a bakery in the state of Washington or an Esty shop owner and tell them to please stop selling my cupcake toppers that they they got for FREE on my blog. You would think people would know better. I have copyright information all over the place.
I have since given up on worrying about those things because it happens so much and try to focus on my own business. But now with the huge money making traffic coming from Pinterest, similar sites popping up and people creating “Pinterest Inspired” websites… as a designer and blogger, it has me re-thinking everything.
Maybe I’m just burned out? Maybe this is actually GOOD for business? People are promoting creative ideas on Pinterest and other similar sites and maybe eventually they will come back to my blog and purchase my products or read my tutorials? Maybe this won’t lead to more copyright infringement or stealing of my designs and photos?
Anyway, I have many questions for myself. I am going to be thinking about where I go from here.
Pinterest is changing the way I blog.
Changes I will be making for future features and round-up posts:
- I will encourage you to go to the original source to pin something.
- I will create a generic image for pinning. This way, you will be able to save my post for future references with a photo that is owned by me.
- I will contact each source of the photo to get permission before I feature it here.
Contacting each person for a round-up post is going to take time and many I would like to feature, won’t get displayed here. Plus, I have two blogs which means double the work!!
I get over 1.3 million page views per month to Living Locurto and people get a lot of exposure from being featured here. I used to take it for granted that you would want to be featured by me. Because of Pinterest, it’s not the case anymore. Since I can’t control what photo gets pinned from my blog, now people could get upset with me if someone pins my post with their photo. Really, I should have contacted people before and I am mad at myself for not doing that! ugh.
If you feature others on your blog, please think about this as well.
There are some other choices that I need to make. I will keep you informed on what I decide.
What are some changes you are making because of the popular Pinterest craze?
I hate to say it. Pinterest has made it terribly easy for us all to be thieves. That little pin it button is a cute way to steal. I thought, well, isn’t this fun. Pinterest says its okay. But it’s not. I once placed a painting on my blog and I credited it and linked to it. The artist wrote me, scolding me, saying how dare I use his work without permission. I apologized. Took it down. But then this cute and easy Pinterest came along and I have been duped into saying its all okay because it’s “just” on Pinterest. And what happens when Pinterest wants to monetize the site. They will be making money off of stolen property. That is illegal. It’s a big mess.
[Reply]
TidyMom Reply:
February 13th, 2012 at 2:44 pm
@Miz Booshay,
agree 110%
[Reply]
Amy Reply:
February 13th, 2012 at 4:25 pm
@Miz Booshay,
It’s really hard to wrap my brain around how this is just the tip of the ice berg. And get my point across to people. They just don’t get it. With maybe 1-5 million people on Pinterest now and it’s out of control… what happens when it becomes like Facebook with 500,000 million people on it? The politicians are already starting to use it… it’s just the beginning. I’ve already found about 5 Pinterest copycat sites as well. EEK! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-drapeau/pinterest-for-politics_b_1272317.html
[Reply]
Miz Booshay Reply:
February 13th, 2012 at 8:50 pm
@Amy, You are doing a great job Amy. I’m proud of you for speaking up. Big #linkwithlove push tomorrow. Glad you have gotten in touch with Kal Barteski.
[Reply]
I recently deleted all my blog-posts, except for boring ones…NOT because of ideas that people were looking for, etc. but because the most viewed photos were pictures of my kids—us at the beach–my boys, no shirts, and their dirty feet. There are a lot of sick people out there and I took too much for granted. My children did not ask to be put on the blog, and their pictures to be out there for everyone to see…it is not fair to them. They are 8 & 10–and I’ve been blogging for 3 years. Unfortunately, I cannot get some of those pictures back from the web—they are out there forever, but at least it can stop from here on out! WHY do disrespectful people and weirdos have to ruin everything fun and good! So frustrating. Sorry people are selling your free items. I know copying is the best form of flattery, but not at their gain and from your kindness! Good luck!
[Reply]
I have featured your free printable calendars on my blog before, with a link to you of coarse. ( if people wanted to print them, they have to visit your blog to do so.) I hope this is how it works, because I’m very new to blogging, and I’m not sure how all of it is supposed to work. I never host the download on my blog, I only link to the original source, I do however use the picture. I hope that’s o.k. ? I would be absolutely thrilled to be featured by you, and I would not expect to be asked first. The problem that I’m finding with pinterest is there are so many creative blogs, with so many of their ideas being pinned, that when I have posted an original idea that I thought of all on my own, I later find the same idea on pinterest. There doesn’t seem to be anything new under the sun. I’m sure that every one didn’t copy my idea, ( my blog is so new, and small it doesn’t generate enough traffic to be copied yet) It’s just that others have also thought of making something similar. So this is why I don’t like pinterest, because it makes my ideas seem less original.
[Reply]
Amy,
Thank you for tackling this subject. I share your feelings and concerns, and have for some time now. I enjoy Pinterest as much as the next person and often use it to find inspiration for home projects. The area that I am having trouble making peace with is the fact that a year ago if you were to lift information from someones website, including photos, people would be angry. Why did this suddenly become ok? I run a small business and Pinterest has become my largest source of traffic over the past few months. This is great for numbers, but I have seen a huge decline in sales in these past few months as well. Coincidence? Maybe. I also have an issue with people pinning products from my store and giving them their own label (ie. recycled project, DIY, etc.) In my opinion, if you pin products from a store they should only go on to one board, “Products I love”. I look forward reading your future posts on this topic. I plan to write a post for my blog as well, and if it is ok, I would like to link to your posts concerning this topic for future reference. Thanks!
Rebecca
[Reply]
Amy,
Thank you for tackling this subject. I share your feelings and concerns and have for some time now. I enjoy Pinterest as much as the next person and often use it to find inspiration for home projects. The area that I am having trouble making peace with is the fact that a year ago if you were to lift information from someones website, including photos, people would be angry. Why did this suddenly become ok? I run a small business and Pinterest has become my largest source of traffic over the past few months. This is great for numbers, but I have seen a huge decline in sales in these past few months as well. Coincidence? Maybe. I also have an issue with people pinning products from my store and giving them their own label (ie. recycled project, DIY, etc.) In my opinion, if you pin products from a store they should only go on to one board, “Products I love”. I look forward reading your future posts on this topic. I plan to write a post for my blog as well, and if it is ok, I would like to link to your posts concerning this topic for future reference. Thanks!
Rebecca
[Reply]
Sites such as pinterest are strong now. When I pin a site, I try to search for the originating site and leave the link to that site. Anyone who wants information on the pin, then goes to the originators website for the information. I hope this is OK with your site. As social media develops, things spiral quickly while rules on how to protect the author/creator are not as well defined. I like the sites that have their own pinterest site so they are aware of pins regarding their site.
For me, pinterest is a library of things/sites/DIY’s of things I enjoy.
[Reply]
I love Pinterest, and the visual creativity that it sparks for me. I also love it’s simplicity and ease of use; in that there are not a bunch of settings, etc that need to be monitored.
That being said I DO understand where you and other bloggers/creators are coming from in copywriting issues with your materials.
It seems like there (unfortunately) will always be peeps who infringe upon copyrights, via blogs, music, writting, etc. So it’s both the consumer and companies like Pinterest to help this issue as much as possible.
So I hope that we (as you’ve mentioned some steps here) and companies like Pinterest can come up with additional ways to make this easier/better for both sides. There has to be better way for everyone involved, that maybe someone hasn’t thought of yet!! Here’s to hoping for that idea to pop up so we can all continue to enjoy great blogs like yours and the awesomeness that makes Pinterest great!
[Reply]
After reading your post about it the other day, I went to my pinterest to make sure everything I’ve pinned links directly to the original. I’ve also started crediting where I can in the comments. I have loads of homeschool pins, and knowing personally how much work goes into creatively homeschooling kids, I’ve been determined since the beginning to give due credit on those pins.
[Reply]
Wow… such good info, so much that I hadn’t even thought of. I have to say, I don’t know what I’m going to do with it all either!! I will start at least watermarking my photos. The rest… I need some time to digest and figure out, and I’m not even anywhere near the size of your. Amazing blog and following. Thanks for opening up and sharing what you’ve learned.
[Reply]
Thank you for bring all these unknown details to our attention! Who knew! I agree that it seems impossible to go back to years of posting to watermark or copyright images…who has the time! How did you apply the “Terms Of Use” on the owl photo in your original post – photoshop?
[Reply]
I’m feeling many of the same thoughts you are Amy.
Featuring other bloggers on our sites used to be a great way to send another blogger (hopefully) new readers and traffic, but now Pinterest throws a new twist into that.
I like the idea of making a graphic for readers to use to pin your posts when you are featuring others and encouraging readers to click over and pin from their sites.
[Reply]
I always try to find the original blog or store to pin an picture….mostly because if I like one of their ideas, I’ll likely want to pin more of theirs! The creative person is who I want to look further into, typically not a “middleman” blogger.
[Reply]
Lately, as I’m pinning, I try to go directly to the site to pin what I found. If it didn’t originate from there, I try to find where it started. I don’t always do it, but am trying! And I will be more purposeful in the text that is pinned.
[Reply]
I have found pinterest to be very useful in my PERSONAL life, I am now more creative and organized thanks to all who have shared. I just want to do the right thing and will make sure the original blogger is credited. Bottom line: would it be better to not be pinning at all? I don’t want to upset anyone by my pinning.
[Reply]
We need you. We’ve been there. I just sent you an email.
[Reply]
Whenever I feature someone, I always send an email asking if they’d like to be featured. I have never gotten a no. I then pin the feature (always from their site, not mine) to my Pinterest board. I do notice that other people will pin these features right from my site though. I usually only include a couple of pics so people will have more reason to go to the featured blog post. I also notice that bloggers actually posts a “pin it” button in their features or round ups – encouraging people to pin others work from their site – not the original bloggers which is so wrong.
Kelly
[Reply]
Amy, I feel the exact same way. It’s changed so much since we’ve started blogging. I’ve been very lazy about watermarking; i realize I am going to have to put it on every picture now.
[Reply]
I do believe that the benefits of Pinterest do outweigh the positives. And maybe, the changes some of us are making will be good for us in the long run. I’ve started watermarking my pictures, but I may change my watermark to my url instead of my blog name. And, like you, I need to do a better job of contacting people before using their post on a roundup. I only do one roundup a week, and I think I’ll keep it at that!
Have you considered getting a blanket permission from people that you find yourself sharing stuff from often? I know a couple of bloggers that do that and it seems like a really good idea.
I love your blog Amy and I hope you don’t get too discouraged!
[Reply]
Amy Reply:
February 13th, 2012 at 1:34 pm
@Terri,
Thanks Terri! I appreciate your comment!
[Reply]
As someone who just read blogs and looks for ideas to use in my everyday life I am sad to hear that this may change how and what people may share. I understand completely where you are coming from and your frustration. I would be upset also. It will make me think when I repin an item and make sure the original blogger is getting the credit.
[Reply]
It does take extra work to be able to put watermarks on our images but I truly believe that it’s worth it in the end.
I love pinterest because of the visual aspect of it. It’s so easy to browse and find exactly what we want unlike other social bookmarking sites out there that only have the links. Tweeting and +1 this post.
Thanks for the heads up,
Eren
[Reply]
i don’t even go to pininterest!!! i’m really trying to “undo” a lot of the blogs that i have in my favorites – trying to have less time on computer. but i will always keep you in my favorites!! :^)
[Reply]
When I first started blogging I did not know the proper etiquette OR to source back to the origianl post. I did ask permission to use people’s things though….however like you mentioned it is hard to contact everyone you want to feature…What I now do is make sure that I link back and give credit to anything I use that is not my own. If I can not find the original source I link back to the pin. I dont want to not share things I find that I enjoy…if anyone contacts me about it I simply aplogize and remove any items they do not want featured!
[Reply]
This is eye opening. I am going to start by removing all pictures of my kids from my blog. I also will be watermarking all my pictures from now on, it is a shame that we even have to think twise about the way we post on our own blogs thanks to Pinterest.
[Reply]
Amy Reply:
February 13th, 2012 at 1:32 pm
@Kathia Castro,
Yes, it’s sad. Pinterest has been so exciting for those getting traffic that we haven’t thought of the ways it will change things for us in the future.
[Reply]
This is totally eye opening! Thank you for sharing this info and giving us ways to help protect our stuff!
[Reply]
I am pinning some of my OWN posts to help people find my content easier! I also create boards of like posts so that when I want to do a blog post on a certain subject, I have everything in one place. It’s super handy!
[Reply]