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Pinterest Growth Hacks: How did it grow so fast?

80 points by abreckle 14y ago

coryl 14y ago
Hmm, the #2 Facebook Auto-Follow hack is interesting. I wonder if any users had a friend follow them, then mention it to them in person and have the other person be like "Oh...I never followed you."
- mbjones 14y ago
  Yes, this definitely happened. Several of us were looking at Pinterest's signup flow and how their site enabled viral features. I was the first to sign up and then my co-founder signed up later in the day, _specifically_ choosing not to follow anyone during the on boarding process. I received an e-mail from Pinterest that he was following me, then he received an e-mail that I was following him. Neither was the case.
  - SudarshanP 14y ago
    Isn't this unethical?
callmeed 14y ago
I'm skeptical that the bookmarklet was a major driver in Pinterest's growth. My wife was an early and avid Pinterest user and fairly tech savvy (though not a hacker). She had no clue about the bookmarklet–or what one is–until I showed her recently. Thats anecdotal but I suspect accurate(unless you have data to prove otherwise).
- underwater 14y ago
  My wife was also an early adopter and an avid user. She uses the bookmarklet constantly. Be careful of trying to extrapolate from a single data point.
kjhughes 14y ago
There's a lot regarding Pinterest's growth on Quora. For starters, see "Which viral concepts is Pinterest getting right that may be enabling their staggering growth?" http://www.quora.com/Pinterest/Which-viral-concepts-is-Pinterest-getting-right-that-may-be-enabling-their-staggering-growth http://www.quora.com/Pinterest/Which-viral-concepts-is-Pinte... and "Why did it take so long for Pinterest to go viral?" http://www.quora.com/Pinterest/Why-did-it-take-so-long-for-Pinterest-to-go-viral http://www.quora.com/Pinterest/Why-did-it-take-so-long-for-P...
joering2 14y ago
slight OT but I wonder if a pinboard-type site for Facebook photos would make it or break it. You sign up with your FB, you either allow all photos to be pinned/published, or you choose which photos are OK to go public. then those that you agree on goes into a public pool of photos for you and others to pin in different ways: by places you been to (seen all ppl at the same location), by different activities you been doing, etc.

80 points by abreckle 14y ago

coryl 14y ago

Hmm, the #2 Facebook Auto-Follow hack is interesting. I wonder if any users had a friend follow them, then mention it to them in person and have the other person be like "Oh...I never followed you."

mbjones 14y ago
Yes, this definitely happened. Several of us were looking at Pinterest's signup flow and how their site enabled viral features. I was the first to sign up and then my co-founder signed up later in the day, _specifically_ choosing not to follow anyone during the on boarding process. I received an e-mail from Pinterest that he was following me, then he received an e-mail that I was following him. Neither was the case.
- SudarshanP 14y ago
  Isn't this unethical?

callmeed 14y ago

I'm skeptical that the bookmarklet was a major driver in Pinterest's growth. My wife was an early and avid Pinterest user and fairly tech savvy (though not a hacker). She had no clue about the bookmarklet–or what one is–until I showed her recently. Thats anecdotal but I suspect accurate(unless you have data to prove otherwise).

underwater 14y ago
My wife was also an early adopter and an avid user. She uses the bookmarklet constantly. Be careful of trying to extrapolate from a single data point.

kjhughes 14y ago

There's a lot regarding Pinterest's growth on Quora. For starters, see "Which viral concepts is Pinterest getting right that may be enabling their staggering growth?" http://www.quora.com/Pinterest/Which-viral-concepts-is-Pinterest-getting-right-that-may-be-enabling-their-staggering-growth http://www.quora.com/Pinterest/Which-viral-concepts-is-Pinte... and "Why did it take so long for Pinterest to go viral?" http://www.quora.com/Pinterest/Why-did-it-take-so-long-for-Pinterest-to-go-viral http://www.quora.com/Pinterest/Why-did-it-take-so-long-for-P...

joering2 14y ago

slight OT but I wonder if a pinboard-type site for Facebook photos would make it or break it. You sign up with your FB, you either allow all photos to be pinned/published, or you choose which photos are OK to go public. then those that you agree on goes into a public pool of photos for you and others to pin in different ways: by places you been to (seen all ppl at the same location), by different activities you been doing, etc.