Online pinboarding site Pinterest is fast-becoming one of the most talked about services in the social networking space.

According to a report by TechCrunch, the site has reached more than 11 million unique monthly users in the US alone, making it the fastest independent site to reach over 10 million users. While Google+ has more users, it also had the benefit of a built-in user base. This is according to data from comScore.

In December, comScore also reported that users were spending a considerable amount of time on the site per month. “Pinterest is exceptionally sticky and keeps it users engaged for long periods of time,” notes comScore. The average visitor spent nearly an hour-and-a-half on the site over the course of a month and more than 15 minutes per visit, ranking it third on consumer engagement (after Facebook and Tumblr).

Despite still being in beta and an invitation only service, Pinterest's growth is said to be driven by its predominantly female user base (58%), who use the service as a digital scrapbook to share content relating to fashion, interior design and photography. This marks an interesting departure from the norm of tech-savvy early adopters first flocking to a new service.

“Pinterest is on its way up, and online pinboarding looks like it just may represent the next wave of social networking,” says Eli Goodman of Search Engine Watch.

Source: IT Web
http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51364