Man-terest: how do men use Pinterest

It is often cited that women use Pinterest primarily to plan out their next bedroom remodel or the color scheme of their wedding. While this is not entirely incorrect, I know lots of women who use it for other purposes, like shoe designers who find inspiration and track new trends, artists who promote their handiwork, and hair stylists who create Pinterest boards to give their clients options. How men use Pinterest is not often cited. This article explores this gender gap to see if and how men use Pinterest.

Pinterest's home page has a white background with red and gray lettering--pretty gender neutral, except maybe the font which is italicized. Once logged in, you can see pins from people you follow (if you follow anyone) and also a random assortment of new pins. At the top left side of the screen, there is a square to click on that reveals a list of 35 links to various pinning categories.

Fig.1 Pinterest home page with category box pulled down

Of these 35 categories, I found seven (20%) to be male-centric: Cars & Motorcycles, Geek, Men’s Fashion, Products, Sports, Tattoos, & Technology. I qualified these as male-centric because they are industries that tend to be dominated by men, both in work and for pleasure.

I analyzed the proportion of items pinned by men and women in each of these categories by going down the page for several minutes and counting the number of pins made male, female, and gender neutral pinners. Tattoos, Technology, and Products had a very low proportion of pins by male users compared to female users. The ratio got a little bit closer when I looked at Men’s Fashion, Sports, and Geek. Of these seven, the category with the highest ratio of male to female pinners was Cars & Motorcycles.

Fig.2 Example of male to female ratio of pins in Tattoos category

I wasn’t too surprised to find this category dominated by men, but it made me wonder... If six out of the seven topics I deduced would have a significant male presence on Pinterest, where are the men? Are there really that few men using Pinterest?  Maybe I was wrong in my classification and mens' pins are hiding in some unexpected category... Does DIY & Crafts secretly house pins displaying ideas for backyard construction projects? Maybe I should analyze the History category because I know a ton of guys who love the History Channel. I looked through several more categories and still could not find a significant male presence.

So WHERE are the men on Pinterest???!!!!???

I went back to the Cars & Motorcycle page and clicked on a random man’s profile to see if maybe some of his pins would shed light on this mystery. It became clear within seconds that Pinterest displayed his passion in life—he had over 150 boards dedicated to different brands of cars.

I continued individual spot-checking in this manner, and, after seeing way too many ferraris, concluded:

Men pin gadgets, cell phones, and renderings of new product designs. I found a number of boards that were reminiscent of a Hammacher Schlemmer catalogue.

Fig. 3 An example of man's Pinterest board displaying gadgets

Men pin strategies like, “Why Instagram is good for your business", information like “the top 100 tech blogs of 2013”, and infographics that show “the anatomy of Sangria”. They’re even pinning information about how to use Pinterest in their business or tips on how to home-brew.

 Fig. 4 Example of men pinning infographics

Men pin their achievements-- pictures they took rather than pictures from other people’s sites or memes they created.

Men use Pinterest in an analytical and objective sense, whereas, women tend to use it in a more subjective fashion.

Men post graphics with words, rather than writing an explanation underneath of the image.

When men pin, they pin things they’re proud of—their car, their designs, and their pictures of the sunset.

So how can this analysis work in the favor of Pinterest and men? What can Pinterest do to attract mens’ interests and more participation? First off, they could add a few visually-oriented categories  like "memes" or "infographics". They could also add more business-oriented categories that would encompass themes men are pinning like marketing or strategies. How about a construction projects category?  Or take the category theme one step further and be able to see what people are pinning in different places around the world.  I bet Silicon Valley-based pins would look very different from Malibu pins (especially if men are posting to these categories).  Lastly, they could look into providing a real-life networking space for pinners—some sort of online/offline community that connects people who pin similar things. A ferrari-enthusiast club would probably go over well. Pinterest offers its users, of all genders, a tabula rasa to foster creativity and innovation.