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
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
I prefer Dudepins.
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 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”.
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… Read more »
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.
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… Read more »