Discussion: Social Media and Blogging- Lets Talk Pinterest!

A few weeks ago I kicked off the discussion series about Social Media and Blogging with a discussion about g+ and whether it's a useful tool.  Then 3 weeks ago I did a recap of everyone's thoughts and started a discussion about Facebook, and then 2 weeks ago I did a discussion about Twitter.  This week I'll do a recap with everyone's thoughts about Twitter and then move on to discussing Pinterest.

• For the most part this one is easy.  Some love twitter and spend a lot of time there and swear by it.  Others just promote their posts. And some just don't understand the appeal and mostly stay away.

• Some made a good point, it's nice for talking to authors.  Personally I really agree with this even though I have been horrible about doing it lately due to time.  But tagging an author when tweeting their review is likely to get you a thank you and possibly a further comment (only tag for positive reviews, it's only polite) and it's always fun to share photos of their book and whatnot.  The authors are always appreciate of whatever mention you may do of their book.

• Sophie mentioned she likes to schedule tweets using tweetdeck. I thought I would mention that in case someone didn't know you can do that.  I do like that idea of scheduling things through the day.  I do that with facebook.

• Once again, the time thing came up.  No one has enough time for everything so it's a balancing act.  Many prefer to just use that time reading blogs.  I'm one of them I guess.  I spend more time reading blogs and commenting then I am at doing anything else 'social'. 

• Twitter is great for giveaway promotion.  This I definitely agree with.  I can see giveaway entries skyrocket after a tweet, so this has been proven.

I hope I didn't miss any other important comments.  It was really a total mix of thoughts, but I guess that's not too surprising.  Different things work for different people and that's definitely being made clear in these series of posts.

Today I want to talk about Pinterest.  Pinterest is still pretty new to me, at least as a promotion platform.  I pin my posts, and have a 'read in 2013' board as well as 'CBB Book Promotions' board where I pin anything related to the business as well as the bloggers who post for the tour stops.

My issue is that I have no idea if this works, or makes any difference at all.  I don't see Pinterest showing in my stats as a place that people are coming from.  But I have been told it has potential to be one of the best places to promote.  Is there a trick to it?

Also, I'm wondering if people get annoyed with seeing book covers and stuff instead of photos or other things? Maybe this isn't an issue at all.  You can choose a variety of people to follow and see an assortment go up.  I don't know.  I'm not sure what to add to this discussion, but I'd like to know your thoughts on Pinterest.  Do you check out posts you find on Pinterest?  Have you have had success with it?  Do you use it at all?  Do you hate it?  Just let it all out, tell us what you think of it and any Tips or Tricks you have!

{Edit: Coincidentally I noticed quite a few people repinned my book covers AS I was writing up this post!  So, I guess some people do repin the covers, if it's something they want on a board of theirs.}

Oh, and be sure to go Follow me on Pinterest.  Yep, gotta get that self promotion in there.  {I'll follow you back.}

Edit: I want to add in that I do love Pinterest.  I can spend hours on there looking at the photos.  The travel photography, or pictures from around the world, are my favorite.  When I'm depressed it's a good place to go to pull myself out of a funk.  But because it's a time suck (seriously) I don't allow myself on there often at all.