SWOT: Pinterest

I have to start off with admitting that I just love Pinterest. It is an addicting site. I am on there when I have spare time, well lets face it I am on at work when I have no patients in the office. They have everything you could ever want to search for. Today my interest was on gardening. 'Tis the season! I was looking for some ideas to help in creating my container garden. I live in a duplex, so I really don't have any room for a full garden. Here are some examples:



This one here is suitable for my patio.

This one here would be great for the side of the house.

Essentially the key factor that keeps me returning to Pinterest (Strength) is that it is constantly changing. The people who actually post the pictures of different container gardens or different recipes are Pinterest users. The individuals who created this website were extremely intelligent...hmmm let's think of a website that will be really popular and we don't have to do anything...*Lightbulb* here comes Pinterest. The one factor that keeps frustrating me (Weakness) is that it is extremely difficult to become a Pinterest member. I have tried many, many, many times and with many different emails, and I still cannot create my own account. Initially I just thought that my computer illiteracy was getting the best of me, however, my computer genius roommates even tried to invite me and actually tried to create an account for me...still no luck. The fact that you do have to create an account is obviously a safety measure. However, If I had not already been addicted to Pinterest, I probably would be furious with their incapabilities to figure out how to deal with their member requests. Of course, just looking at the company as a whole it has amazing opportunities. Pinterest is very much so like Facebook, except, with Pinterest you are sharing ideas and finding a common ground. With Facebook, it seems like the goal nowadays is to compare drunk photos and see how many friends you can get...even if you don't know them. With Pinterest, it creates a community with similar bonds and similar interests. I feel like our society is needing a way to connect to people and there is so many people who are stay at home moms or college students or part of the working class who just need people to connnect to. With 7 billion people in the world, how do you actually find the people who have the same interests as you? The one weakness I could even think of with Pinterest is that it could be a fad. It could sizzle out just as fast as it started. Who knows what is going to happen in the future...All I know is that the SWOT analysis, as part of the components of any marketing plan, is easy as pie...as long as you know the company you are talking about.