UPDATE:
Pinterest has discontinued the Pinterest communities feature and all communities have now been changed into group boards that are owned by the communities creator & automatically set to secret. The majority of the features have been stopped, however, you can view activity inside of group boards to see when & what people are posting in a ‘community’ style. For more information on the change, check out the official release by Pinterest here.
You can set these group boards to Public, leave them if you had joined a few communities or delete them if you have a similar group board already or just don’t want it on your profile. I’ve deleted mine.
PREVIOUSLY:
Pinterest recently released a new feature whilst flying quite quietly under the radar. A new feature that caused quite a bit of confusion for the few people that discovered it. That feature is Pinterest Communities.
It wasn’t quite clear how it worked, what it was for & what exactly the rules were for using it (or if there even were any!).
Chaos ensued the few days after, with spammers & others trying to abuse a system that was still very much in beta.
Things have gotten a little bit more under control recently & become a lot clearer. So, I’m here to share with you what Pinterest Communities are & how we should be using them to increase our overall Pinterest experience.
After all, the goal of new features like these should be to increase user experience!
If you want to read this later, please save it to Pinterest.
[callout]What are Pinterest Communities & how to use them[/callout]
First of all, you may not see the Pinterest Communities option on your smartphone, computer or tablet. This is the heart icon in the menu area on mobile or the simply stated Communities tab on your pc. If you do not see this, don’t worry, let’s get you invited!
[callout]How to get access to Pinterest Communities[/callout]
Pinterest Communities is currently ‘invite only’. Which means you need to first be invited to join a community before you’re given access to the Pinterest Communities tab.
We’ve set up a few communities of our own, so I can invite you too. 😊
As this is a Pinterest article, you may feel at home in our Pinterest Tips & Tricks community.
I do try to share as much information & tips on other social networks as possible, as well as some blogging tips, and have some other communities set up for those areas too.
Click on whichever topic(s) interest you the most, join those communities & let’s get this party started! 😉
Once you’ve joined a community you should see the communities tab appear in your mobile & desktop menus. Welcome to Pinterest Communities. 😉
[callout]What are Pinterest Communities exactly?[/callout]
Now that we’re past those formalities, let’s look at what exactly Pinterest Communities are & what the point of them could be.
Pinterest states that Communities are to connect you with other Pinners based on similar interests.
That could make a lot of sense, but then you may have seen quite a few comparisons to Facebook Groups or the possibility of flopping like Google+.
I don’t think it will go either way though, forming an area of its own. Sort of like Reddit.
You see, Pinterest is often considered to be mainly a search engine like Google. Many seem to forget how many users head to Pinterest for inspiration & ideas.
With the combination of; 1. Pinterest forming algorithms that provide smart suggestions for certain topics based on your recent interests. and, 2. The variety of accounts, topics & boards you may follow, certain topics, pins and ideas you may be interested in can get lost in the smart feed.
This is where I feel Pinterest Communities provide the most value. A way for users to find chronological fresh content based on their specific interests & a place for like-minded individuals to share their ideas on subjects without the restrictions you may find in some places, like Facebook groups.
So far, the best Pinterest Communities are those that encourage ideas & conversation.
Related: 30 Tips to master Pinterest today!
[callout]How to create your own Pinterest Community.[/callout]
Now you may be itching to get started & want to create a community of your own.
To create your own Pinterest Community, follow these steps:
- Once you’ve joined a Pinterest Community, open the Community Tab.
- Select Create Community (or the + icon on mobile)
- Add a header image.
- Give your Community a name & description.
- Once you’re happy, select Create.
- That’s it! You’re now a Pinterest Community owner. 🎉🐱👤
Some important things to note about Communities.
- Optimum image dimensions for community headings should be at least 1440 pixels wide with a minimum height of 255 pixels.
For best results, upload your header image with dimensions of 1440 x 480. - Changing the name of your community will also change the URL.
- Pinterest Communities does not allow duplication of names.
It’s best to include a search term in your name if possible, as search only covers Communities names at the moment. - To delete a Community, you need to be the owner & you need to select delete from the edit Community options. Leaving a community will NOT delete it.
[callout]What can you do in Communities & what benefits could they provide?[/callout]
The features of communities are constantly expanding as Pinterest continues to work on developing this new function.
Currently, you can:
- Tag fellow users by include the @ symbol before typing their Pinterest profile name.
This will notify them of your post & can bring interest to a specific feed or community, & send people from the community to that users Pinterest profile. - Include clickable hyperlinks to external websites, like your own blog or interesting articles you found relating to that Pinterest Community.
- Post your own pins or others pins to the community.
- Upload images or just write a plain text message.
- Like & reply to posts to engage in conversations.
Community Owners & Moderators can:
- Enable sticky posts. These are posts that will appear at the top of the Community.
I recommend using a maximum of 3 sticky posts at once. Otherwise, it can take too long to scroll through for new & existing Community members. - Delete posts from Communities if they’re vulgar, off-topic or against the Community guidelines.
- Ban specific users from the Community.
Each Pinterest Profile is allowed to create up to 5 Pinterest Communities. Create more than this and your account may be seen as spam and ALL of your Communities could be deleted by Pinterest.
Only the Community owner can edit or delete their Pinterest Community.
You can change ownership of a Community in the edit section. Ownership can only be transferred to a current member of that particular Pinterest Community, however.
One of the most interesting points here is the ability to tag other Pinterest users in your posts, which can drive targeted traffic to their profile or draw their attention to a particular subject.
Another great feature is the ability to create clickable links in your posts. This can link to your products, affiliate links, other social media platforms, interesting articles, sources, and the list goes on!
Related: Pinterest Group Boards & how to use them to grow your blog!
[callout]Best practices to follow using Pinterest Communities.[/callout]
Like most things, there are a few best practices & rules to follow in order to have the best experience with Pinterest Communities.
P.s. These best practices are taken directly from a Pinterest Communities Developer (link here).
DO:
- Join communities about things you love & have an interest in.
- Encourage others to share by liking or commenting on their posts.
- Answer questions, make suggestions. If someone’s looking for a great restaurant in Florence & you know just the one, comment on their post and share it.
- Share cool content from across the web, not only from your domain.
- Gauge interest and relevance before posting any blog content.
- Respect Community specific rules about self-promotion.
- Follow the 10:1 ratio – only one self-promotional post to every 10 other actions.
I.e. Posting someone else’s content, posting a photo, a question, a discussion starter, liking or commenting on another post, etc. - Post discussion starters.
DO NOT:
- Drop into a community just to post your blog.
- Post the same blog post link or pin to multiple communities, especially with disregard to relevance.
- Ignore other content in the community.
- Disregard community-specific rules set by community moderators.
[callout]
Pinterest Communities – Summary
Pinterest Communities are a way to connect you with other Pinners based on similar interests.
Communities are currently ‘invite only’. If you haven’t gotten your invite yet, click on one of our Pinterest Communities below to be invited!
You can create your own Communities using keywords in the name.
Join Communities that you have an interest in.
Post relevant images, pins & links to communities whilst liking and engaging with posts within your Communities.
Avoid being too self-promotional by following the 1:10 ratio.[/callout]
By following these best practices & creating engaging environments, Pinterest Communities are bound to be a benefit all-round.
If you’ve enjoyed this article and found it useful, I’d really appreciate it if you would share it with someone that could also benefit. 😊
As usual, if you have any Pinterest related questions, drop them in the comments down below & I’ll do my best to answer them. 😊
Cheers,
David Woutersen
Outofthe925.com
David Woutersen
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