I have been teetering nervously on the edge of social media for some time now. I am savvy enough to realise that it is important but that for some of us it poses something of a challenge.
Social Media is here to stay.
Events here at Gezi Park have shown us that without doubt we have to know how to use it. Yet I have friends who barely do email. Well, the news is sorry, you have to get with it. There is no return. You cannot linger in the never never land of the past.
This is it: forget your own social circles, look, entire movements are evolving right before our very eyes and they are all based on social media.
I know this for a fact as I was in the UK for 4 days right in the middle of the recent social protests here in Istanbul. I was lost and felt really isolated over there but thank god for Facebook.
Through that, I was back in the heart of it and following every move. That last amazing rally last Saturday evening in the heart of Taksim which we attended was due to an alert via Twitter.
But I have a cooking blog and so have long been aware of the site Pinterest. It seemed to me to be the ideal way of displaying categories of my own recipes with an emphasis on the pictorial, and of sharing.
And therein lies the crux: it is indeed the sharing that is the focus unlike FB or Twittter where the focus is the conversation.
I know from my own friends that the very word ‘sharing’ makes them shudder – come on, I know you guys. But I don’t understand this. I am all about sharing and communicating. This is the way forward as I see it. People who resist will inevitably be left behind. You can learn so much by sharing and isn’t it great to learn?
Some of you already know that I am stuck at home with a chipped fibula and broken tendons: yes, my ankle is in plaster and I am 100% dependent on poor TT.
Not that he is complaining but I feel bad. So this is the ideal moment for me to find out about Pinterest.
Luckily for me I have a great friend Elizabeth from the entertaining blog The Geriatric Gapper. She is very conversant with computer-related matters. Very kindly she came over a couple of days ago and in a matter of hours, taught me how to use Pinterest.
I think it’s brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. That little red p in the sidebar of my blog and many other blogs, and also at the end of the post, is that: pinterest. All it means that if you like a picture in my post, you click on that p and select the pic you like to save it on one of your own boards.
OK you may think: so what, I collect pictures. Well, it is a great way of saving and categorizing whatever you see on other websites. For me, for example, I have started a ‘board’ as they are called, for recipes that I want to make.
Or imagine, you want to look for the ideal chocolate cake so you trawl the net … when you find one you like, here and there, you ‘pin’ it on your own specially created ‘board’. When you have enough, all you have to do is go back and survey them one by one, you can see all the visuals plus the link back to the recipe is automatically incorporated and make your choice.
OK I am primarily about cooking. But my most recent hobby is photography. So I have a new board called simply Istanbul.
Other people have some truly amazing pics of this city of ours so you simply ‘pin’ them onto your own Istanbul board. Sharing all the way. It’s a journey without end and isn’t that fabulous? You can create as many boards as you like and ‘pin’ and ‘re-pin’ to your heart’s content. If you’re dying to comment, you can also do that.
The three pics above are my pictures. Imagine you like them enough to want to save them: all you would do is click on the pic and then the pinterest button (providing you have already become a member which is easy).
Then you could click them onto your own board.
Here’s a link to my Istanbul board as it stands right now:
I think I’m going to enjoy Pinterest! Why don’t you join me? Click on that p and see where it takes you….
Sounds like your broken foot has a silver lining – I should join Pinterest too. It would be a good way of saving places I want to visit without having to trawl through everyones's blog again.
In a way, yes – I now have time to do all these computer things at my leisure :)))
Check pinterest out and let me know what you think.
Good luck with your broken tibia! I had two ankle bones and my fibula in September, sending you broken girl love…
oooh ouch … well there is certainly hope for me then!! Thanks for yr support!!
wonderful post Claudia, your pinterest photos are a feast to the eye 🙂 cok gecmis olsun, sometimes these things are a blessing in disguse (though i can imagine your frustration at times) make the most of being served : ) xx ozlem
Oh Özlem – so far I am loving pinterest – I am following you, I think! And am also trying to be positive about being STUCK like this!!
I'm glad you are having fun with Pinterest, Claudia. It can become quite addictive! I so enjoyed our day together. Thanks for the mention! XX
Elizabeth!! I am loving it and all thanks to you!! I think I will follow Joy's advice below re spending max 10 mins per day on it. Thank you SOOOO very much for showing me the nitty gritty of it xx
I try to only spend about 10 minutes a day or less on Pinterest or I could really be on there forever! But if I just pin or repin a few things a day, it really adds up! 🙂 Get some rest dear and hope to see you soon!
Just said to Elizabeth above: I will try to follow yr advice re how long to spend on it. Although of course right now I do have the time …!!! So you recommend just one or two pins etc per day, do you? Sounds good to me. xxx PS when are you coming and where are you going to stay?
Claudia, So sorry you're laid up! Çok geçmiş olsun! How did it happen, for heavens sake? Anyway, loved your lovely painted toenails and the gorgeous carpet in the background.
Hello dear Senior Dogs!! Yes, my nails continue to perk me up, there's no doubt … an accident that happened in the twinkling of an eye coming off the boat from Buyukada ….not that I fell getting off the boat but just after .. xxx
Hope you get well real soon!
So sorry about your foot….I know how you feel I had one of those lovely boots before.
Your photos are great….makes me want to go back soon.
I love Pinterest…but try and stay away sometimes (?), otherwise I'll be there for hours.
Hope you feel better. XX