Pinterest - The Next Social Network?

As Facebook occupies the news with their IPO release and the world now is trying to guess the next big tech thing, it’s time to pay some serious attention to Pinterest. The online realm never lacks topics or companies to discuss or analyze, especially when it comes to the topic of social media, which occupies online discussions from multiple angles.

Facebook, the most trafficked website in the world, originated as a joke by a bored college student and is linked to be responsible to higher divorce rates. Twitter, the lazy man’s approach to entertainment that most of the non-nerdy world fails to understand. Delicious is the tech nerd’s idea of blog sharing/idea sharing and hasn’t really caught on with the general public. And now Pinterest, a concept very similar to Delicious, yet, so much better. (Does this make me sound biased?)

Just like anything else on the web, you don’t have to have a unique concept to make something succeed. You just have to do it better then the other guy. Facebook wasn’t a unique concept, it was basically a better version of what MySpace was trying to be. However, based on the implementation, friendlier and cleaner design, and the ability to better engage users, Facebook is the one filing for a 5 Billion dollar IPO, while people ask if MySpace even exists anymore.

So what is Pinterest? It has been referred to as the “female’s version of fantasy football”. Regardless of everyone’s opinion, one thing is for sure, a dedicated user can definitely occupy hours of his or her time, enjoy their experience and still want more. From a marketing standpoint, this is a perfect recipe for business success.

As an application, Pinterest is build perfectly for computer and mobile usage. The application allows users to browse posts based on their areas of interest: design, fitness, fashion or simply surf through "all" categories at random. Users can "repin" posts to their followers or simply "like" them for their own reference. For more engaged users, the application allows individuals to comment on posts to stay involved. Unfortunately, the application is still working out many of its bugs (speaking from experience), but like anything else, Rome was not built in a day.

Now can Pinterest monetize on their fast growth and be the next Facebook story? Maybe. I guess it all depends on the ability of their owners and marketers to seize this opportunity and start making revenue. Who knows? In a few years, Pinterest may be filing for a 10 Billion dollar IPO.