The secret is out by now. Pinterest just launched boards that you can keep private! Cool, right?
These private boards don’t show up in searches (not that Pinterest search is worth a darn anyway), in any categories or in anyone’s feed. They’re truly secret. Hidden. Classified. Private. Under wraps. You can even collaborate on a private Pinterest board with other pinners.
But there’s a BIG CATCH. Pinterest only plans to have the boards around for the holiday season. For now. Maybe they’ll change their minds. But that’s a big funsucker now isn’t it? You can read through the comments on their blog post to see what they say about it. (In case you were wondering, private boards won’t be deleted or made public if they don’t continue them. You just won’t be able to add new ones.)
I’ll just head to la-la land and pretend that Pinterest will think private boards are SO FRICKIN AWESOME that they’ll keep them around. I can’t speculate but I can imagine there would be quite a bit of backlash if they took them away.
Ways to Use a Private Pinterest Board
So assuming they stick around, what sorts of ways can you use a private board as a blogger? Let’s count the ways:
- Mood board: If you’re working on a blog redesign or starting a new blog, create a mood board of imagery, fonts, colors and examples that inspire you.
- Curate articles for a blog post: Pin articles you want to reference or link to without giving your followers a peek.
- Collect blog post ideas: Save articles, research or images that give you blog post ideas.
- Collaborate with other bloggers on a project: Since you can add others to private boards, a group of bloggers can pin to a secret board to work together on a project.
- Launch a complete board all at once: If you’re making a big announcement that you want to use Pinterest for, then you can pin things to a private board until you’re ready to make the announcement. This also works if you do social media for a brand and want to unveil a full board versus hitting your followers with a bunch of pins at once.
How to Set Up a Board
It’s super easy to set up a private board. Like so easy I probably shouldn’t even be giving you directions. But I will anyway. *grin*
1. Go to Pinterest and click on your boards under your profile.
2. Scroll down to the bottom of your boards page and you’ll see three blank beauties ready to be filled.
3. Get to building your board. You’ll know a board is secret by the bright, red slider that says “ON.” Yeah, told you it was easy.
You can turn a private board public at any time to make room for a new private board.
Tell me! Do you think you’ll use private boards for blogging? Are you hoping they’ll stick around?
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I'm a mom who loves marketing, photography and all things social media. I have two boys whose claim to fame is that they were born on the same day... three years apart.
Twitter: ElaineSGriffin
says:
Great ideas!! I hadn’t thought of the blogging potential!
Elaine Griffin recently posted..Instagram Profiles on the Web? YES!
Twitter: BrittanyVandy
says:
This is what I am using it for and it helps me to know what I want on which blog when I do the re-launch. I so hope they keep them around!
It is also nice if you are doing a home project and want to pin a thousand screened porches and not piss off a lot of your followers.
Brittany recently posted..Ladies, Yours are No Longer Called Nipples
Twitter: FarewellStrangr
says:
Oh, I hadn’t realized they were temporary. (Not that I’ve created one yet…) Private boards seem like a no-brainer to me. I realize it defeats the social purpose but I can see a lot of people finding that appealing in addition to their usual (public) boards.
Robin | Farewell, Stranger recently posted..Boys Will Be Boys
So interesting–I have not created one yet either–but wow is there potential there. I am not even sure I should let myself go there.
Elena recently posted..Breaking the Golden Rule of Running
Twitter: AlisonSWLee
says:
I love the idea of secret boards and I sure hope they keep them around!
I think it’s perfect to use for secret party planning and such. So fun!
Alison recently posted..Memories Captured – November Link Up!
Twitter: JameeTMiller
says:
I haven’t created a secret board yet but love the concept! Hopefully they will keep them around! i have no idea why they wouldn’t!
Jamee @ A New Kind of Normal recently posted..What’s In My {PT} Bag?
I’m so excited about secret boards. Have wanted them for awhile. I plan to use them for pinning gift ideas, as well as planning photo session ideas that I don’t want to reveal yet. I love some of your suggestions as well! So many possibilities!
Kim Cunningham recently posted..Scavenger Hunt Sunday
I’m so glad you wrote about this! I was wracking my brain as to what I’d use this for (outside of a place to pin potential holiday gifts!) Thanks!
The Dose of Reality recently posted..Don’t Dog Sit If You Want To Be a Brain Surgeon
Twitter: artchootwit
says:
Oooh, you smarty! These are awesome ideas. I had no idea Pinterest wasn’t giving us these secret boards forever. I think a lot of people will be extremely upset to lose their private boards.
Jeanette from Artchoo recently posted..DIY.org Rewards Kids’ Creativity
Twitter: SGRcom
says:
I am among the Pinterest users that didn’t realize the secret boards were only going to be available during the holidays. My first thought to that was, okay so I’d probably only use them for pinning items for gifts (to keep them a secret until the recipients unwrap their gifts!).
I don’t know that I’ll use them until I am sure Pinterest is going to keep them around. I don’t want to do a bunch of pinning for it to all go away in a couple months!
Kecia recently posted..Thanksgiving Menu Ideas: 50 Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Twitter: SoniaBarton
says:
I don’t think that the boards will go away – I just assumed they would be come public if they removed the Private feature. Does anyone know for sure?
Sonia Barton recently posted..Trying something new
Twitter: SGRcom
says:
True…but if I used the private boards for the privacy feature, I wouldn’t necessarily want those pins to become public if Pinterest descides to do away with that feature later. Something to think about, for sure…
Kecia recently posted..Thanksgiving Menu Ideas: 50 Thanksgiving Side Dishes
The Pinterest blog says they will remain private if Pinterest decides not to go forward with it. So your boards would stay private; you just couldn’t add more. Whew! (think I’ll add this to the blog post!)
Twitter: SoniaBarton
says:
Very nice to know – I held back thinking they might go public.
Sonia Barton recently posted..Trying something new
Twitter: TeaInEngland
says:
I use IFTTT and have it set to auto-tweet my pins to my blog’s Twitter account. I am SO thrilled with Pinterest’s new Secret Board because now I can pin personal things without them being tweeted. THANK YOU PINTEREST!
Tea in England recently posted..Remembrance Sunday 2012
Twitter: TeaInEngland
says:
P.S. I *do* have a personal Pinterest account but it’s such a hassle to toggle back and forth between both accounts that I have more or less stopped pinning personal favourites on Pinterest; the new Secret Board will allow me to pick that back up again and – hopefully – still be around once the hols are over.
Tea in England recently posted..Remembrance Sunday 2012
Oooo, I love this idea for the exact reasons you mentioned. I read somewhere else that it was in beta form and not available to everyone. Since I see it’s available, I’m jumping on. I do hope it hangs around. But, what a fun idea for the holidays, too . . . for pinning gifts. Thanks for the great article.
I like the idea too, but am also hoping they stick around and increase the number… What’s up with just being allowed to have three? I need more! Haha.
Lindsay recently posted..This is Crucial.
I didn’t realize that they were temporary either but I hope that they keep them around. I think it’s a great idea and I hadn’t thought about the blogging potential either – just a way to hide present and party ideas
Christine @ Love, Life, Surf recently posted..Memories Captured: The Run
Oh yes…I am loving these secret boards!
I think just the mere fact that you can keep some boards all to yourselves without sharing with everyone, or sharing them with only a selective group of friends sounds interesting indeed. I didn’t think about having a board for pinning blog posts for future reference, which sounds interesting indeed.
Thanks for sharing.
Harleena Singh recently posted..Are Married People Really Happier Than Singles
Great stuff! I’m using them for now, since they are easier, but I did a 31 day series {before these were available} and pinned all my stuff to private board on MikeLike.com which does the same thing. I like that site for hiding what i’m working on, as a blogger. I have so many followers on Pinterest that it would spoil any surprise, really!
Becky B.
http://www.organizingmadefun.com
Organizing Made Fun
Becky@OrganizingMadeFun recently posted..Special Giveaway: Organizing your Baby’s Memories
I will def. be using this! Thank you for this little post. I hope they stay around!
Great ideas! I only thought about using them for gift ideas, but these are wonderful ideas for bloggers!
Courtney @ The Granola Chronicles recently posted..Love Grown Foods Giveaway — Tank Top & Granola
Thanks for the ideas. It sounds like a great way for my co-blogger and I to share ideas!
Corinna recently posted..High/Low: The Arc Floor Lamp
I’ve already been using the secret boards, but it never occurred to me to use it for blogging. Cool idea! And, I pinned this, just because it felt like it should be done.
Kate @ Mommy Monologues recently posted..Thanksgiving Memories
Twitter: powermothering
says:
These are some great ideas! thanks! I’ve also just seen in my Facebook feed that pinterest are making a business profile with tools. sounds interesting.
Nicci recently posted..7 Tips to get ALL the Kids Bathed at the Same Time
So if I’m not using all three, I should create “dummy boards” for the others so I’ll have them if private boards go away?