The first step is admitting you have a problem, but if I have an addiction to Pinterest.com, at least I’m in good company. Though Pinterest has not released its total number of users, it estimates a 329 percent increase in unique visitors from September to December 2011, and social-media agency Ignite estimates over 4 million registered users. This infographic shows Pinterest’s impact in the social commerce arena and highlights how referral traffic from Pinterest is much greater than Google+. Pinterest also just won Best New Startup at the fifth annual Crunchies awards this week.

So What is Pinterest?

The site’s About page describes Pinterest as a virtual pinboard that:

…lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

Why Do I Pin?

So much of what we consume on the web is visual, and “pinning” an image to my board that is linked back to an original source has been a great way for me to organize different interests and areas of my life. I used to e-mail links to myself, take a picture with my phone, or in extreme circumstances print out an image. All of this information was scattered and not necessarily connected to its source if I needed further information. In addition to organizing my own life, the site helps me feel connected to my friends’ wedding plans, do-it-yourself projects, and favorite new recipes—in a more efficient and enjoyable venue than Facebook provides.

I knew Pinterest had become an extension of myself when in one day I used it:

• on my phone to show the hair stylist a celebrity haircut I had pinned
• on my Nook Color to pull up a healthy recipe for dinner
• on my laptop to show my husband decorating ideas I had gathered

Does Pinterest Have a Place in Education?

While I am always eager to explore the potentials of a mainstream technology for effective use in education, I’m not yet convinced that Pinterest is a good fit, but hope to be proven wrong. Certainly for design-related coursework, or maybe a nutrition course where recipe-gathering is appropriate, Pinterest could be a natural organization solution. I am interested to know if educators are finding meaningful uses with their students, or perhaps in presenting content. I once had similar doubts about Twitter and Facebook for use in education and have since seen examples where these mainstream technologies were leveraged effectively. The way Pinterest allows users to easily connect with others who have similar passions and interests could have a place in developing professional learning networks, especially for those in creative fields. For now I will keep up my own pinning and watch to see how the increasing consumption and sharing of visual information is addressed in the education sector.