Pinterest – Not for Sale and Facebook takes a Stand!
It’s been quite a week in the virtual world of social media. Pinterest and Facebook both made some big announcements about their policies. Once again, the people used the web to raise their voices, and they have been heard!
It’s been a whirlwind of a week, here at the Small Barn, too! That’s my excuse for the fact that you didn’t get to read this one in the print version of the paper, but trust me, it will be there, next week.
Facebook’s big announcement involved privacy. Over the past few months there have been thousands of complaints that colleges, government institutions, and employers have gone beyond simply perusing the public media profiles of applicants. They are now being accused of requiring login and password information. This is astounding! Imagine the implications, both on the personal and the legal front.Well “the big F” stood up for us this time! In a statement released this week, Facebook said they are willing to stand up for the privacy of their users in court! You can read the full report here.
I had intended to cover it in detail (and I will in another article), but just as I got started, I saw a great post from on-line acquaintance, Trey Ratcliff – world known photographer, traveler and blogger – from “Stuck in Customs” dot com. Trey posted news from Pinterest and his thoughts on the matter. As I read it, the email from the Pinterest guys also hit my inbox, saying,
“Over the last few weeks, we’ve been working on an update to our Terms. When we first launched Pinterest, we used a standard set of Terms. We think that the updated Terms of Service, Acceptable Use Policy, and Privacy Policy are easier to understand and better reflect the direction our company is headed in the future. We’d encourage you to read these changes in their entirety, but we thought there were a few changes worth noting.Our original Terms stated that by posting content to Pinterest you grant Pinterest the right for to sell your content. Selling content was never our intention and we removed this from our updated Terms.”
Given the flack they’ve been receiving about their terms, especially from those using social media for business expansion, I thought you may like an in-depth look at the situation from a consummate expert. So I got with Trey and asked him if I could share his writings.
Today’s social media tip:
Reach out and Ask! You’ll be amazed at how friendly and accepting people are!
Pinterest from behind the lens.
(The following is the copyright material of Trey Ratcliff, 2012. and includes highlights from his post on Google Plus and from his article on Stuck in Customs)Read the whole article, here.
From Google Plus:
“Obviously, I’m predisposed to support an open-and-sharing internet because that’s how you drive traffic and interest. Pinterest now accounts for over 15% of all the traffic to StuckInCustoms.com !I talked to Pinterest CEO +Ben Silbermann on the phone, and he was perfectly cool and awesome about all this stuff. He’s a photographer himself, and he understands the sharing nature of the internet. Ben said “Selling content was never our intention and we removed this from our updated Terms” on his blog today… the same thing he told me on the phone.And maybe… just maybe… we can talk Ben into joining the hangout[Pinterest G+ Hangout - Join us Live Mon at 7 PM PT!]. I know heavy-hitter Pinterest user +Kalebra Kelby will be there with me… I spend half my time in Pinterest re-pinning her stuff! See you Monday night… it will be a great hangout!”
THE BIG PICTURE – THE NOW OF SHARING
Sharing isn’t the future; it’s the now. Before we talk about Pinterest in particular, let’s discuss an overall digital sharing strategy. Forming a solid philosophical foundation will help keep you from feeling like you’re always flapping in the latest digital breeze.
A pure artist has two motivations: creation for the sake of creation and sharing for the sake of connecting with the world…
WHAT IS PINTEREST?
Pinterest is window-shopping on steroids. It is said, in a generally dismissive manner, “Oh, women really like Pinterest.” … Women rule the world! In the great interwoven networks of our Dunbar 150s (wikipedia) , it’s the women that form most of the connections between and across groups.
Techcrunch sites that Pinterest has over 10.4 mil users and 97% of the likes are from women. Article.
WHY ARE SOME PHOTOGRAPHERS ANTI-PINTEREST?
Many photographers fear Pinterest because anyone can “pin” an image of theirs and all copyright is stripped away. This isn’t necessarily true, because the link to the originally pinned location is still there. So, you can think of it as a hyperlink that just happens to be a visual thumbnail instead of boring text like “Awesome Photo of Disneyworld.”
FREE TRAFFIC LEADS TO REAL REVENUE
Most people in the world are good people. If they find digital art they want to buy for a print or use in a commercial campaign, they will figure out a way to get you money. 99% of your traffic is truly “window-shoppers.” They will look at your goods, take note, enjoy them and move on. But 1% will want to make a personal or business transaction with you.
NEW STYLES OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION
Increasingly, we have a new way of talking to one another. It’s not through voice or text — it’s through photos. They are like Chinese characters taken to the next order of magnitude. It’s strange to think about, but I can quickly show you five photos and communicate an idea, a story, or a complex thought. There wasn’t an easy way to do that 5 or 10 years ago.
Pinterest is simply another way (a newer, evolving way, mind you) for humans to communicate with one another. It is increasingly the job of digital artists to inspire, share and bring more beauty and communication into the world.
I would like to thank Trey Ratcliff for his friendship, insight, and help with this article. I hope you’ll pay him a visit on Google!
