In the last week or so, we've come across no fewer than a dozen Pinterest-inspired services. Two we already wrote about —
Dartitup and
Gentlemint — bill themselves as Pinterest alternatives for men. Others mercilessly take the Pinterest concept and focus it more intently on a specific purpose. Observe:
This is a search engine for travel recommendations that recently unveiled an
unabashedly Pinterest-esque redesign. The site serves up large photos with user-generated reviews. Users can create "boards" for cities they have visited or want to visit, and fill them with recommendations for restaurants and other venues.
This is a Facebook app that takes the photos in your news feed and lays them out in a Pinterest-type format. To make the experience more visual, you have the option of getting rid of comments and captions.
This mash-up of Pinterest and Instagram allows you to view a feed of photos submitted by people you are following, and if you so choose, pin photos to Pinterest. Likewise, any photos you submit are also "pinnable" by those who follow you.
And these are just a few Pinterest riffer-offers. Check out
this Mashable article on Friendsheet that includes a slideshow with seven other Pinterest-like services.
So why are so many services imitating Pinterest?
We'd like to think it's about more than trying to hitch a wagon to a rising star.
Through stunning visuals, Pinterest allows people to discover useful, informative content in literally the blink of an eye. So, hitching your content to a compelling photo increases its chances of getting exposure.
For example: Facebook's algorithm banks on this, since photo content is most likely to get you noticed in more news feeds, even when interaction isn't a factor. At the same time, photos are most likely to inspire more interaction in the form of likes, shares, and comments.
That being said, it's understandable that a service would want to help its users find content that's useful and interesting by introducing that content with photos.
For what other reasons do you think more online services are imitating Pinterest?
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Pinterest must be blushing right now.
