Joanna Schroeder thinks trying to divide the Pin-board market by gender is probably a recipe for failure.
Yeah, Pinterest is definitely overpopulated with photos of wedding dresses and cupcakes that look like teeny princesses. Being as I’m firmly against wedding culture and completely lacking in the “arts and crafts” gene that supposedly comes along with boobs and a uterus, I get annoyed with all the flounce and frill on Pinterest as well.
It’s not surprising that in response to all the men (and probably some ladies who think like me), a crop of man-oriented sites that function like Pinterest—virtual pin-boards—have popped up, focusing on dude stuff. CNN looked into this new trend:
They have names such as Dudepins, Manteresting,PunchPin, Gentlemint and Dartitup, and they claim to target the male demographic not just in content but also in utilization…
Unlike Pinterest, however, these sites have fewer photos of wedding dresses and more pics of beards, babes, guns, Harleys and bottles of whiskey.
Pictures of beards? Like ZZ Top and Mr. Edwards from Little House on the Prairie? Okay, sure. Why not? 
Here’s the reason I think this will fail. Yeah, Pinterest is populated with girlie stuff when you first start. But it’s also highly customizable. Over the first few weeks that I joined, I saw less wedding dresses and more of the stuff I like—art, music, green architecture, skate/surf culture, social justice issues and some style stuff. Amazingly, the style stuff fits in with my aesthetic: not high fashion, but jeans and vintage tees. This is because of what I’ve “liked” and repinned. The more I pin, the better it gets.
And yeah, Pinterest is 85% women, but it’s also one of the top social media sites in the world with 20 million users. Consumers want to be in on what’s successful. While “the next hot thing” is fun to try, it seems that what’s big just gets bigger. Facebook used to be considered just for teens and college students and now my 94 year old grandpa uses it (you should read his status updates!).
So what will make the man-pin sites work? CNN explains how the use of stereotypical “manly” block lettering and monochromatic layouts are aimed at making men feel welcome. They also use macho language:
Then there’s the testosterone-laden choice of words. Instead of “Pin It,” users on these websites can “Nail It” (Manteresting), “Dart It” (Dartitup) and “Save to Your Mint” (Gentlemint). Dudepins’ slogans are “Dudes like sharing stuff” and “Man Up. Sign Up. Pin Up.”
So here’s a question: Are sites like this filling a need for men, or promoting stereotypes? CNN interviewed Ricardo Poupada, co-founder of AskMen.com:
AskMen’s Poupada believes men share content differently than women and are more likely to share that which is representative of stereotypical male interests.
“It’s more about what your stuff says about you,” he said. “The sharing is very much in line with what society dictates to us. If a guy talks about calorie counting, he will be ostracized.”
Ostracized?
“There will always be places to be gender-specific,” he said. “There will always be the [male] equivalent of Pinterest. But the beauty of the Web is you can never stop anyone else from joining. The medium doesn’t allow it.”
While I agree that a site aimed at men is a great idea (says Senior Editor of The Good Men Project), Pinterest is the originator of this format, and with something so customizable and adept at giving users what they like, it seems trying to divide the user base is merely a way to set yourself up for being the eternal “runner up”.
To me, the fundamental layout of Pinterest doesn’t seem girlie, it’s not pink and flowery, but I’m a girl so I may be missing something. My guess is that the best hopes for the man-pin sites is that you end up being the one Pinterest chooses to to acquire in order to integrate more men into their user base…
So I’m handing this over to you, GMP readers. Is Pinterest’s layout, verbiage and design too girlie? What should Pinterest do to adapt and be more inviting to men?
Do you use Pinterest? How about these other man-focused pin board sites? Will the manly sites succeed?
Photo of male shoes, glasses, bottle courtesy of Shutterstock
ZZ Top photo: AP
About Joanna Schroeder
Pinterest seems like people who are basically sharing things that interest them. I don’t see how this is much different from a Facebook page. The concept is the same. The look and feel is different. Sure, it looks girlie, but I’d don’t begrudge women a “female space”. They may be more comfortable that way. I suspect that if there is a market for men. The male sites will thrive. Male members will leave the traditional pinterest sites and join the ones geared toward men. I looked at feminist sites. They’re bigger than MRA sites or GMP. I picked GMP because I like it here. I check feministing every week or two to see what’s going on. I look at A Voice for Men once in a blue moon. It’s where you feel welcome, not what is most popular at least on the web where you’re semi-anonymous anyway.
“Pinterest is the originator of this format, and with something so customizable and adept at giving users what they like, it seems trying to divide the user base is merely a way to set yourself up for being the eternal “runner up”.”
I’ve heard similar arguments made by gamers when women complain about the image of women in computer games and comic books. To a large extent I think they’re right. Women should probably develop their own games and comic books. When I was younger Archie Comics was the girl’s comic book. Men decided to develop their own video game/comic book.
“While I agree that a site aimed at men is a great idea (says Senior Editor of The Good Men Project),”
I agree with this as I don’t see a problem with men’s space either.
Regardless, people only have a certain amount of time in the day. The sites that succeed will be the ones to draw the consistent traffic. In that light pinterest competes with every site on the web including ESPN, CNN, MSN, etc. regardless of user base.
A few observations:
1. The demographics of Pinterest users in the UK differed markedly from those in the US last time that I checked. The majority of UK Pinterest users are male, and the prominent interests of users of the site skew more in traditionally male directions (http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/9021-more-male-pinterest-users-in-uk-than-female-infographic).
2. Any homosocial group will tend to accentuate traits that represent loose ‘family resemblances’ within the group, and encourage conformity to stereotypes, whatever the stereotypes associated with the group may be. These traits can easily become accentuated into caricatures. I feel a stifling female homosociality when I visit Pinterest, and am not interested in participating for that reason. Groups exert a centripetal force upon their members and the centripetal force of identity that is operative on Pinterest is not one that I am interested in subjecting myself to. This is despite the fact that I am an avid knitter and crafter, with my own blog devoted to knitting and handcrafts, and with a Ravelry account. While, like practically every male, I am far more than a collection of male stereotypes, traditionally male traits are a very important dimension of who I am, and I like to be in contexts where I can express them.
On the other hand, the male counterparts to Pinterest have little appeal for me either. I don’t share things online in order to express a highly generic masculinity, but in order to explore far more particular areas of individual interest. These areas of individual interest are often powerfully conditioned by my gender, but they are not reducible to it.
3. Groups conform to stereotypes less by means of ostracization than by virtue of the fact that groups are formed by sharing things that we have in common. People who share their individual interests that are not held in common can easily be uninteresting bores in a group setting. It should not be surprising that all of the old clichéd stereotypes about men and women start to characterize all male and all female groups. Groups naturally establish feedback loops that privilege, give voice to, amplify, and impose the expectation of conforming to key shared traits. A boy or girl, who can have very distinct individual characters, will almost invariably tend to move in the direction of stereotypical gender traits when put in a group of their peers of the same gender.
This need not be a bad thing: emphasizing what we have in common is part and parcel of what it means to belong to each other. Stereotypical gender traits and the expectation to conform to them get a worse rap than they deserve. The person who is unwilling to conform in any way to group expectations or norms is often an opinionated and selfish ass, with an overly inflated impression of his or her own importance. One generally doesn’t have to deny your differences in order to fit in with the group, but one learns to downplay them. I can be tremendously frustrated by the fact that many of my colleagues are obsessed with drinking, football, and childish action movies, but I should at least make an effort to take some interest and contribute to the conversation, as a sign that I value them, want to belong to the group, and don’t regard myself as superior. Of course, for those without particular traits that are dominant in a group, this can be alienating. People who have particular traits that cannot easily be shared with the group can also feel stifled.
4. The most important thing to recognize is that sharing is less about self-expression than it is about group membership and feeling that one belongs. I choose a social network less as a means to facilitate self-expression than as a place where I can belong to a group. Consequently, the mere presence of a sharing format isn’t enough: what I am looking for is a place where I can experience an optimal level of group belonging, which means that the demographics of such a site are hugely important.
In 2005, when I first joined Facebook, I was a very active user. It was great to belong to an exclusive group of peers from a small set of predominantly high profile universities. However, soon afterwards, Facebook opened up to students from a wider range of universities, to non-university students, and then later to our parents, bosses, and squalling teenage sublings. At each stage the site lost appeal as those things that could truly be shared moved towards a lowest common denominator than held less and less interest for me.
5. Most of the time, rather than whining about being left out of existing places, people should make their own places. An attempt to ‘masculinize’ Pinterest might endanger a form of sociality that is very important to many of its users. Far better, I feel, to go off and form our own places where we can share things that we have in common and which are important to us. People who invade forms of sociality in order to close down certain shared traits and impose their own make it difficult for people to express important parts of their identity.
I think that this has been a significant problem over the last several decades, as male homosociality has come under sustained assault, while female homosociality has often been celebrated. The feminist movement has understandably been concerned with breaking up areas of male homosociality, as these are associated with pockets of privilege (in education, business, the arts, unions, pubs, men’s clubs, sports clubs, etc.). However, what has often happened is that men have been left without truly meaningful realms and elevating forms of socialization into masculinity.
The loss of such realms can leave many men far more isolated and emotionally stunted and perpetuates an infantilization of men. Forms of socialization that are very important to many men have been closed down and replaced with more traditionally feminine forms. For instance, considerable effort has been put into making education an affirming, egalitarian, conformist, test and grade-oriented, inclusive, highly sensitive, communal, non-physical, quiet and sedentary, and non-confrontational setting. The fact that the majority of men may thrive more in traditional educational settings with hierarchy, competition, disputation, a focus on the oral debate over the written or standard test form, less affirmation and more emphasis upon earning one’s place, challenge, agonism, mental toughness, and a privileging of independent mindedness and agentic traits is neglected as contexts tailored to female gendered ‘family resemblances’ are privileged.
If one wants to understand the tragedy of much modern masculinity, look no further than the fact that traditional male traits, traits that are very important to many of us, are stifled in most settings, save in such (frankly, rather childish) contexts as organized sport, video games and comic books, and the drinking culture. For such reasons, I believe that it is important that we honour the need that different people have to different forms of sociality, rather than homogenizing all social settings for the sake of inclusion.
All of this said, however, I believe that we should be aiming for more variegated forms of sociality, where different modes of sociality can co-exist next to each other, overlap and interconnect, without one form ever dominating over or crowding out others. This demands an honouring of other people’s spaces, and recognition that there are some important conversations in which one does not belong. However, it also involves recognition that we need to pursue things in common with as many people as possible. Consequently we should be multiplying different shared spaces in which different commonalities can be expressed, so that no one is left entirely stifled or alienated, even though we will all feel that we do not belong in certain forms of sociality. Homogenization of sociality for the sake of maximal inclusion causes lots of problems, but pursuing a proliferation of interconnecting specialized socialities promises far more. Separatist masculinities and femininities are seldom healthy, which is one reason why, although male only and female only contexts can be good things, we probably should allow them to become our primary contexts.
I love this comment.
This was a great comment. I thought that Point 5 was especially well-articulated. It goes back to the need for a men’s movement independent of but coexisting with feminism. Men should not expect a movement for women to be focused on them, and feminists should not pretend that feminism is focused on men. Feminists don’t have a monopoly on gender and manhood/masculinity.
Thanks. Although I just noticed that the final clause is missing a key word: ‘we probably should NOT allow them to become our primary contexts.’
Your point is very important. The challenge is that of creating conversations in conversation. Not always easy.
I think even if they ultimately burn out or only remain a small niche they are fine as long as they don’t get into the “the other gender isn’t welcome here” advertising, which as far as I can tell none of them are doing. I wonder, if Pinterest had come out the gate with a mostly male focus and female variations started coming along, would people be worried or would they see it as “women making their own space in a world that’s dominated by ‘male centric’ media”.
Here Is a Collection of GMP Pins To Give Some Perspective. Feel free to Like, Repin, and Follow.
The Good Men Project >>> The Good Men Project — http://ht.ly/bMVrc
I prefer Dudepins.
My experience with pinterest:
I’ve used pinterest to optimize my site’s ranking and it jumped from page 9 to #5 within 2 weeks.
I found that the seller named “pinterest”, which ranked first when you search “pinterest” at Fiverr, has produced the best results on my websites. The seller pins my site with 75 different people, not sure how he did this, but it has improve my SERP’s ranking. I’ve tried 5 other sellers who offer pinterest gigs on Fiverr but they can’t improve my site’s ranking. I don’t know why.
Some known advantages of pinterest for seo:
- Google loves social media signal.
- Each pin is considered as 3 inbound links.
- Links and images from pinterest are dofollow!
This sounds like a really silly idea.
If we do accept the premise that men have other preferences for social media than women. then surely the difference is not served with a clone with superficial changes? Changing “pin it” to “nail it” is not changing anything. If the pinterest concept is not for men, then by all means create something else. But make it something else.
Personally I’m on social media because of my friends. Sharing with others is what matter. And – my friends are not of a single gender. I can’t imagine how focusing something like pinterest on men would make it any more interesting – to the contrary, I’d miss sharing with my female friends.
And anyway – your pinterest boards are as masculine or as feminne as you make ‘em.