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11:56AM February 14 2012

Pinteresting? Potentially.

No, it’s not a new social media buzzword – or is it? You may have heard the name through social media sites, on your Facebook timeline or even through the excited yelps of brides-to-be, but what exactly is it that’s building Pinterest to be one of the top social sites of 2012?

For those yet to be acquainted, Pinterest is a ‘virtual pin board’ – a place to organise and share online images (or videos) that you find interesting or inspiring. Once uploaded or shared on Pinterest, these images become known as Pins, which the user can place on customised, themed boards.

This is a platform whose popularity has spread quickly. In December 2011 Experian reported that Pinterest had grown to 11 million visits per week since it’s launch less than two years earlier. Only last week Mashable reported that the visual pin board website beat YouTube, Reddit, Google+, LinkedIn and MySpace for percentage of total referral traffic in January.

Of late, the invite-only service has seemed to attract a certain crowd, particularly those planning and organising important elements of their lives:

+ Brides-to-be pinning inspiring wedding images, colours and ideas

+ Cooks sourcing and pinning deliciously photographed dishes

+ Interior designers (professional and novice) tallying up room ideas

+ Fashionistas pinning their top spring summer looks and beauty tips

The key to the success of pinning is that each image or video pinned links back to its original source – leading you back to the relevant recipe, furniture website, wedding venue or fashion blog.

What’s more is that the whole experience can be shared. You can find your friends, follow popular or celebrity pinners, collaborate on boards and share your pins via Facebook and Twitter.

The easy layout and endless scrolling feature adds to the addictive nature of the site. Media can be easily consumed and re-pinned within a matter of seconds, saving the content on a board for later inspection.

It’s not only the organisational aspect of Pinterest that’s captured audiences, but the website design which has since been mimicked by aspiring bookmarking sites appearing on the web. However, Pinterest wasn’t the first to develop the layout – a plug-in called jQuery Masonry by designer David DeSandro launched in February 2009 and has been noted by designers when describing Pinterest’s unique look.  Although many sites have dabbled with the sleek jQuery Masonry layout prior to and since Pinterest, none have caught the attention or traffic that Pinterest offers.

Some brands have also been joining the craze, gaining thousands of new potential customers in the process through showcasing inspiring images relating to their products, organised into easily digestible boards and carrying out Pinterest based competitions to spread engagement (pin to win).  Whole Foods, The Today Show (US) and the Travel Channel are all ‘on board’ showcasing the aesthetic of their brands and promoting their lesser known features to all new willing audience.

So what’s next for Pinterest? The future’s optimistic for the two-year-old start up that has only grown since its launch. The invite-only element of the site retains its exclusivity and builds desire for those not yet included to break in. With London Fashion Week around the bend and an ever-increasing audience, could we see live pinning in place of tweeting? Or perhaps live purchasing through pinning? It’s a ‘Pinteresting’ path ahead.