Using Pinterest Ethically, Legally, and *Coolly*
I’ve been privy to a few conversations lately regarding some ‘less than cool’ Pinterest activity. And by ‘less than cool’ I mean… unethical or illegal or just not cool.
Today… I want to invite you all to share with me YOUR thoughts on ‘less than cool’ Pinterest activity. Please leave a comment below… what is NOT cool to do on Pinterest? (I confess. I had to give up my Pinterest addiction years ago in its early phase. I lost 2 much sleep in a 2 day bender. 🙂 I need you to help me out.)
I’ll share some of my thoughts here…
Swapping links for yours (especially if you are swapping with monetized links) – not cool
This happens when someone pins something and inserts a link for reference. (The link is to the original blog post and it gives credit to the creator.) Someone repins the pin and substitutes it with a link going to their site – or, worse – a link that has an affiliate code for some sort of financial gain.
That’s not cool.
This is kinda like stealing.
‘Borrowing’ images from Pinterest without giving credit to the original source – not cool
Pinterest can be amazing at driving traffic to artists’ sites. The flipside is that when stuff gets pinned, it can easily lose the original source information. 1000 pins down the road and this image has now been downloaded onto someone’s computer and revamped for their own purpose.
Pinterest is not a database of free-to-use creative commons artwork. It is illegal to use images or manipulate images found on Pinterest.
That’s not cool.
Always ask permission. (Here’s a cool post that talks more about this.)
Posting Your Work – that’s OK! Just be cool about it.
When Pinterest first began it was taboo to pin your own work. Now, this is a completely acceptable way to share your work. However, keep in mind… like with all social media, if you only talk about yourself, people will get bored. (“I’m so vain.”) Make sure to attribute your work to your business.
What do you think? Are these not cool? What is also not cool? I know I’m barely tapping the surface here and I’d love to get your thoughts!
Pinterest has a great little etiquette page for more thoughts..
I completely agree. We have this wonderful resource but let’s be sincere and give credit where credit is due. Let’s not take someone else’s work as our own. The entire idea of Pinterist is to admire and reproduce of course, but let’s let that me enough.
Intregity is much more important than claiming a picture for yourself in the long run…
It’s a strange medium Deb because we are supposed to copy and paste what we like… so by nature, I think, people get carried away with the copying and pasting… and forget that there are people behind those images. Love what you say about integrity!
Can’t steps be taken to stop these people? Surely Pinterest terms must be violated, if not they should revisit their terms.
Yes – Pinterest has terms for this… and they actually do work to shut down people like that. (This is something people need to know – because they could be in risk of being shut down.) I can imagine that, like everything, it likely takes a while for them to learn about perpetrators. They do give people a place to report copyright infringement: http://www.pinterest.com/about/copyright/dmca/ . But, I don’t know if they have a place for them to report people who are just being really sneaky about changing links to monetized/affiliate links.
wow – very disappointing to hear about the uncool ways pinterest is abused; appreciate the info 🙂
Michelle, great article! It’s such a hot topic and so confusing for those of us who aren’t lawyers, ha ha! I interviewed an attorney on the topic last year to get a legal perspective…what an eye opener! http://brideappeal.com/blog/pinterest-copyright-violation-are-you-guilty