Yes or No to Pinterest?  That is the Question.

I had the "nopin" code snippet on my website for about a month.  I decided I didn't want my images being "pinned" until I got a better handle on things.  But since I now have copyright and website attributions embedded in them, I think I'll allow pinning again - at least for a trial period - and then we'll see where things go from there.

I still have issues with their Terms of Service.    Frankly, I don't like them.  But with the popularity of the site, blocking it could be like saying  "Don't index my site" to Google.   And I certainly want my site indexed by Google.  Believe it or not, I don't have a problem with people sharing my images.  The problem I have is with "P's"  TOS.  That's it.

Before adding the "nopin" code, I did join Pinterest for a short time.  I would never "block" a site like this without at least trying it out first.  I "pinned" one of my own images just to test it out and my site got a significant traffic boost the following day....but...

Good Website Traffic or Not?

This was the fly by kind that doesn't do me a lot of good.  In fact, each "hit" was on that single page and I don't think anyone even stayed on that one page long enough to really "read" what the blog post was about.  I got the same kind of traffic a few years ago after a user on StumbleUpon "stumbled" something on my site.   There were over a thousand new visitors overnight.  But no one stayed on for any length of time, and very few looked at other pages.   But I suppose, if enough traffic were gained, some of those visitors (even if the number were very small) would be the type to stick around longer.   They can't ALL be of the Evening Grosbeak fly in and fly out, variety...can they?  (If you know anything about Evening Grosbeaks, then you know why I used them as a metaphor.)

Tumblr

My angst over Pinterest really stems from Tumblr.  As I've mentioned before, I had an account there too.  I watched how things were being shared.  Unless the images had an attribution embedded in them, you never knew where they originated.  Pinterest requires a link back to the originating site, at least.  But those often get lost, or were getting lost, in the "re-pins."  That's the same sort of thing I saw on Tumblr.  If I do the work, I at least want credit for it.  That's all I ask, and I don't think that's too much to be asking.

Well, we'll see how things go with "P" this time.  I've seen some reports from bloggers stating that their traffic (comments and readership) has been hurt by it.  Others are saying just the opposite.  We'll see. But, no, I don't expect to join it again myself.  I'll let others do the pinning, if they so choose...at least for now.  I can always put the "nopin" code back if needed.