Pinterest isn't just about travel, fashion and home decor. The third largest (and fastest-growing) social network is fertile ground for science journalists and science communicators. This talk looks at users who pin science-related material on Pinterest, and what science writers and communicators are sharing, from publishers, journals, museums, universities, companies, nonprofits and freelance science writers, too.

1. 17 things
science writers
can pin to
Pinterest
(that are not
pillows or dresses)
Denise Graveline - @dontgetcaught
For Science Writers in New York and the
American Society of Journalists & Authors, March 2013

2. Relax. I won’t make a decorator
out of you. That would take work.
You can find these slides at http://bit.ly/SWINYpin and all
examples in the slides link to the relevant Pinterest pages.

3. Why bother with Pinterest?
 Third-largest social network: 15% of users overall
 Right behind Twitter
 Fastest-growing social network. Ever.
 Valued at $2.5 billion
 Makes it easy to find things on the web
 Can have business presence or individual presence

4. Why bother with Pinterest?
 Every pin links to a website—so it’s a great traffic driver
 Can link items for sale
 Consumers shop more and spend more on Pinterest

5. You can use it without using it
 Even before I began using it, Pinterest was #2 driver of traffic
to my blogs
 Using it enhanced those numbers, but…
 …so does making it easy for your followers to share items
from your website or blog
 Pin It buttons
 Adding images
 When they use Pinterest bookmarklet
But you’ll do more and better with it if you actually post on the site

6. I wish more journalists &
publishers were using it to…
 Storyboard sources & data  Profile journalists and
alongside finished stories highlight their expertise
 Share more topics than  Widen their audiences
travel, fashion & décor  Easily boost traffic
 Share their own behind-the-  Share more quotes from
scenes photos stories
 Create their own “brand” so
others can spread it around

7. For most users, it’s addictive

8. …including people who like
science
 More than 200 boards with “closet geek” in title
 More than 300 devoted to microbiology
 More than 1,000 about physics
 Nearly 1,000 about chemistry
Like most social networks, your audience is there before you
are, and your job is to find them and let them find you

9. Geeky Pinterest users are
sharing…
 Journal articles & covers  Field work photos & videos
 Science experiments  Science demos
 Vintage & new science  Charts and graphs
magazine covers  Infographics
 Science photography  Data visualizations
 Ebooks and books  Slide presentations
 Videos  Explainers
 Research institutions  Famous scientists
 Quotes from scientists

10. Share science
coverage
NPR’s boards on Pinterest include
one devoted to its science and
health news coverage.
However, many major news outlets
skip sharing science topics in favor
of fashion, travel and décor.

11. Build audience
and collect
images for
projects
Science writer Jennifer Freeman’s
Climate Health Pinterest boards
collect images for the Climate
Health Image Project, which helps
people visualize the global health
impacts of climate change.

12. Collect your talks
and interviews
Science writer Carl Zimmer’s
board on his talks shares video
and audio of his lectures and
articles in which he’s interviewed,
taking advantage of Pinterest
compatibility with SlideShare and
video. He also shares his latest
articles and books on Pinterest.

13. Drive traffic to
your blogs and
promote apps
and resources
National Wildlife Federation social
media manager Danielle Brigida
uses NWF’s Pinterest boards to
link back to blog posts, share NWF
apps and encourage photo-sharing
of wildlife and backyard activities

14. Pull and share
quotes
The Wall Street Journal’s robust
Pinterest presence includes a
board of compelling quotes from its
stories, capitalizing on the
popularity of sharing graphic
quotes on the site. There’s no
reason a journalist can’t share her
picks of the best quotes from any
article, too.

15. Share archival
material
The American Museum of Natural
History’s boards include one on
The Hayden Letters, from a 1950
promotion in which the public was
encouraged to write letters about
taking the first space trip—and
where they wanted to go.

16. Find work
This UK pharma recruiter has an
entire board to recruit a science
writer, with posts on the
location, offices, job description
and more. You also could start
your own Pinterest portfolio, with
links to your published
articles, your CV, photos of your
projects and more.

17. Answer
visitor/reader
questions
The Arizona Science Center board
“Never Stop Wondering” features
questions conveyed in easy-to-
read graphics and answers on
video from scientists at the center.
The board drives traffic to a
website of the same name.

18. Announce
research news
IBM Research shares research
innovations. On this cognitive
computing board, it shares a
photomicrograph of the new IBM
Holey Optochip, and a description
of the novel approach used to
create it. The pin links back to a
related Flickr page.

19. Share
resources with
readers
The AAAS magazine Science
Books & Films shares issues of the
magazine, along with science
podcasts, library resources and
more.

20. Promote your
book
Ebook publisher Boikeno shares
ideas for books available in
electronic formats. Pinterest users
love sharing book covers, and give
them plenty of likes and
comments.

21. Divulge
science history
with humor
General Electric borrows the Ryan
Gosling “Hey Girl” meme to draw
users in to its links with inventor
Thomas Edison. The pins link back
to a history page about Edison on
the GE website.

22. Draw in visitors
to see field work
in action
South Carolina’s Archaeological
Research Collective includes a
board of urban excavations and
sites that you can visit in the state.

23. Encourage
fandom
One of NPR’s popular and widely-
shared boards includes NPR
Valentines, including this one
journalists might appreciate.This
makes it easy for Pinterest users
to share your brand, have fun and
see you as approachable.

24. Free report with
more examples
for blogs and
websites
Go to http://bit.ly/SWINY and sign
up for the SWINY/ASJA mailing list
option to get
my free report on how to use
Pinterest to promote
your blog (works for websites, too)

25. I’m on Pinterest at pinterest.com/dgraveline and I blog on social
media and communications strategies at dontgetcaught.biz. I help
organizations and companies with social media strategies, media
relations strategies and speaker and media training. Check out my
board of great ways to use Pinterest.
Denise Graveline
info@dontgetcaught.biz