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I am a wife, mama and grandmama getting through life by hanging on to a needle and thread.

Friday, March 23, 2012

My Love-Hate Relationship With Pinterest

When I first found Pinterest I loved it!  Hundreds of wonderful photos and ideas all on one page meant hours of browsing fun and inspiration...even without opening a Pinterest account!  One day, I even happened across a photo that I had taken of a quilt that I had made and I was incredibly flattered that someone thought enough of my work to pin it.  However, recently some things about Pinterest have come to light that aren't so wonderful.  Improper or no links back to the original source, copyright violations, and poor terms of service have all made me rethink my position on the ever popular Pinterest.  For the most part, I'm happy to share my work, but my main concern is that Pinterest is not making sure that proper credit is given where credit is due and until that problem is corrected I will not allow my images to be pinned to the Pinterst site.

If you want to know if your work has been pinned, go to: http://pinterest.com/source/ add your domain name here .com/

To find out more about the problems with Pinterest read Ellen Brundige's article, Is Pinterest a Haven for Copyright Violations?

To learn how to prevent others from pinning your images without your permission, visit Virtual Jottings" How to Add the "No Pin" Code to Blogger
(Note that this only prevents pinning to Pinterest and does not prevent someone from using their computer's  "save as" or "print screen" options.  If you want to completely protect your work, do not post photos of it on the world wide web.)

And finally, for those who cannot give up their pinboards...I ask that you please pin responsibly!  Visit A Guide to Proper Pintiquette {Pinterest Tips & Tricks} for more information.

8 comments:

Jean(ie) said...

yup... it's love hate... I deleted my account because it was such a time suck. I like the concept -- online store of bookmarks. It just became an obsession for me.

On that note, Happy Friday! Make it a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

I won't start an account because the copyright would make me nervous then taking time to ask permission to pin...BUT I do love looking at others and have discovered so many wonderful things! Especially tried and true recipes. :-) I've never been asked if they can pin something but sure find alot out there...I don't mind in a way...it is free advertisement about my quilting.

One Minnesota Quilter said...

Good post. Thanks for the information.
Judy

Jocelyn said...

Thanks for the post. I had to write to Pinterest and ask them to take down TWO pages with my (2) blog pictures. I do not have an account, but there they were, pictures from my blog. And no one ever asked if they could pin. And although I am flattered that someone would like my pictures, my bigger concern is that somewhere in the Pinterest agreement, they state that if you pin a picture, they own the pictures and can do whatever they want with them. So down the road, they can take YOUR picture and sell it, or make posters or cards or whatever. That just doesn't seem right.

Quiltdivajulie said...

My blog is a No-Pin Zone. There aer many of my images pinned (happened before I added the HTML blocking code) -- NONE (repeat, NONE) of those pinning folk ever asked for permission.

I've also changed many of my Picasa albums from "public" to available only with link in an effort to cut down pinning from my albums.

Thorny, complicated issue . . .

IHaveANotion ~ Kelly Jackson said...

I hear ya, it is a tough one.
Smiles,
Kelly

Michele Bilyeu said...

Excellent advice, Susan! I have been repinned and the blog that copied my photo given credit and a really, really famous quilter had that happen
been asked permission for reuse by a blogging friend..the friend and her blog was given credit. People look at the photo thought web albums and google images ..all free use once we sign our hosting agreements..and don't read our blogs for the full story of where the image came from. Too bad, they didn't figure out a better system and have to add the copyright rules in AFTER the problem and not before ;)

Madalene Axford Murphy said...

The more I learned about Pinterest the more problems I had and the new changes to their policies don't solve all those problems. I can easily live without a Pinterest account.

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