Sharing this from The Scrappy Housewifes blog because I feel it is important for the message to get out there!
Pinterest is a wonderful resource for everyone. Who hasn't found themselves lost for hours oooing and ahhing over all the great ideas and inspiration. But as bloggers, we are finding that more often than not, when our content is "pinned" it may not link back directly to our blog or tutorial, something we have spent countless hours creating, writing, editing and crafting to entertain and educate our readers.
Someone might have done a Google search and grabbed the image. Another well-intended soul might have included the image in their blog because it was cool and something they wanted to share without realizing that if someone pins the image from their site, they themselves will get the credit.
Most of the time, it's not intentional. Sometimes however, it is.
There are ways you can protect your content. Make sure you take a few moments to edit your photos and include your blog name on them. If you follow the link above you'll find all the reason you need to do this for yourself and your content.
There is also a way to protect your fellow bloggers. Promise that you will practice Pintegrity. Make a conscious effort to do the following each and every time you pin:
1. Rather than just clicking "repin", click on the picture and take the extra step to ensure that the link at the top right is the original source link. (If you click the picture once and then once again, it should take you directly to the link outside of Pinterest.)
2. If it is not the original content for the picture - don't pin it!
3. If the site shows the picture and has a link to the original content, click it and pin it from there. The blogger will thank you for protecting her rights.
4. If you plan to feature favorites from Pinterest (as I do each week) make sure you're sharing pictures linked to their original source. It only takes a moment and a few extra clicks.
5. Remind your readers that when you share from Pinterest and they want to pin, they should also pin from the original source and not your blog.
Kristi @ Addicted to Decorating had this idea - "When I feature a picture of someone else's project, I am going to take five seconds and use the button creator on Pinterest to make a "Pin It" button with the URL of the original blog post. That way when people click to "pin" the picture, the source goes to the original blogger, and not to my blog."
The bottom line is this - we can't change the way Pinterest works, but wecan educate ourselves and our readers about this issue.
Will you take the pledge? Will you promise to pin with integrity?
To join us in our pledge, leave a comment with your blog name and snag a button to spread the word. We can protect ourselves and each other.
