New Website Evolves into a Social Phenomenon

“I think it could be a thing guys would like too, but the people who are using it are pinning things guys wouldn’t like,” she said, “So they’re initially turned off because [it seems like just] a site for puppies and weddings.”

Diego Soto (COL ’13) bucked the gender trend and made his own account, but fails to see the appeal.

“The entire thing is just random pictures of food and clothing,” Soto said. “It’s more about the pictures themselves than my friends’ comments on them, but that’s what I care about more: what’s on my friends’ minds.”

But this hasn’t kept all men away from the site — the three founders are men with extremely popular boards — even President Barack Obama has a pinboard.

Obama’s boards include pictures of “Pet Lovers for Obama,” “Obama-inspired recipes” and pictures of the first family and the campaign trail. On the other side of the political spectrum, Mitt Romney’s wife Ann has an account that features family photos, patriotic pictures and her own recipes.

Perhaps this is the biggest sign of the website’s growing influence: the number of prominent people, blogs and brands that have started their own pages. Martha Stewart has 33,000 followers, Kate Spade has over 38,000 and the popular blog The Beauty Department has more than 100,000.

Many wonder how long this trend can last. Foldenauer thinks the website is around for good.

“The website definitely has a lot of potential,” she said. “Now that more people are getting [accounts], it’s keep getting better.”