How Pinterest has changed my life

Okay, I'm sure that overall my life wouldn't be that much different without Pinterest, but it's true that it has had a massive influence on me over the last few years! I first heard of Pinterest on some US craft message boards that I used to lurk in, way back in 2011 when it was invite only, shortly after I started blogging. My sister had got there first, and it was thanks to her invitation that I was able to set up an account. At the time, it wasn't really heard of over here in the UK, and bloggers hadn't yet cottoned on to how important it would become as a social media network.

In May 2013 I was really excited when I was invited to join in with many other bloggers to host the #PinItForward campaign to help introduce Pinterest to potential users in the UK.

Then, a short while back, Pinterest chose to make me a featured pinner, meaning that new users that selected certain areas of interest would follow me automatically. That has come to an end now unfortunately, as it did wonders for my follower count! I'm not sure why they chose me, but it probably had something to do with the fact that I use Pinterest pretty much daily and I pin a variety of content. I don't spam it with links to my blog, in fact I'm not very good at all at using it to promote my blog, instead I use it naturally for my own interests.

My use of Pinterest brought me to the attention of BritMums, and I was invited to speak in the session "Winning Ideas from Leading Pinners" along with Helen Neale and Jen Stanbrook. I was so far out of my comfort zone and found it pretty terrifying, but luckily the other two ladies were brilliant and I think that the session went well. And it was an amazing feeling of confidence when I'd done it! I am also currently running the BritMums Pinterest account which I love doing, it's a great excuse to browse for fun things to pin in some different categories to the ones on my boards.

I mainly use Pinterest for inspiration for my own projects. My new interest in sewing is due to all the gorgeous sewing related pins that I've been seeing over the last few years. I've also been introduced to new ideas like sensory play and simple science experiments for children which I wouldn't have come across otherwise.

Pinterest has also made me think more carefully about the content that I produce for my blog, from trying to make more of an effort with my photography (still working on that one!) to being clearer and adding more detail to my tutorials.

Finally Pinterest is a great way to spend a few minutes on my phone just browsing and pinning pretty things, even if there is no expectation that I'll actually do any of them! I also have several boards that are there purely for me to look through when I want to spend a few minutes looking at nice pictures!

Visit Jennifer Jain's profile on Pinterest.

Are you on Pinterest? Leave a link to your profile in the comments and I'll make sure that I'm following you!