Pinterest Tip: 4 Reasons To Check The Link Before You PinPinterest is addictive, rewarding and entertaining . . . but I encourage “responsible Pinning”. I know it takes extra time to click on a pin to investigate the link. But I think it’s worth taking the time for these reasons:

1. You don’t want to pin broken links or spam
It’s embarrassing when you pin something and your followers start leaving comments because there’s something wrong with the link. The link could be broken or even worse, it could be spam. You don’t want to pin broken links and you definitely don’t want to pin spam.

You can fight spam by leaving a comment on the post (i.e. “This link is spammy”) and report the post as spam (so that Pinterest will review it).

If you find a broken link, leave a comment on the pin so that the pinner can correct the link. Often broken links are simply mistakes and many pinners will correct the link if it’s brought to their attention. Sometimes you can find the correct link yourself by doing a Google search based on the title of the pin.

2. You don’t want to pin stolen images
Does the link take you to a website that published the image and instructions/recipe as their own original work? You’ll find many images are “borrowed” and sometimes this is a copyright violation. The easiest way to tell who created the image is to look for a “watermark” with the website’s name. Unfortunately these are often “cropped out” of the image so you can’t see it. But if you glance at the article or post using the image you can usually tell if it’s really their original work or not by looking for a detailed written description or a link to the source of the original work.

It’s wonderful when the original author/creator gets full credit for what they created. That’s why I advocate pinning original sources when possible. Just because many bloggers are “borrowing” photos doesn’t mean it’s ok or right to do so. Copyright violation is a serious problem and bloggers can be sued for using photos that they don’t own.

3. You want to follow the source of the pin
I’ve found many wonderful pinners to follow by looking at the source of the pins I love. Most blogs have a “Pinterest” button near the top of their site so you can checkout their profile and follow them to see more of their creative works.

4. You want to support pinners you love
A click translates to a fraction of a penny for blogs and websites that dedicate space to advertising. Once in awhile your click will take you to a spammy site (and hopefully you’ll report it so others won’t click on it), but most of the time your click will take you to someone who is working hard to bring you things they think are worth sharing. And in exchange for them sharing freely with you, your visit is supporting their site.

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Again, I know that it takes extra time to check the links on pins (especially from mobile) but I’d encourage you to see if you can improve your Pinterest experience by doing so. You can also help everyone on Pinterest by fighting spam. I know it’s not your job to do so, but Pinterest needs spam to be reported so they can deal with it faster.

Do you have questions about Pinterest or tips you’d like to share? Please leave a comment!

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