Men Are Joining Pinterest

Pinterest’s brand used to be a bit of a girl’s club, but according to a new survey, more men have begun flocking to the site.

The poll, which was commissioned by Pinterest marketing partner Ahalogy, surveyed over 1,000 web users, 505 of whom used Pinterest at least once a month. Of that group, 206 pinned everyday. It found that men now make up 18% of Pinterest’s users, an increase of 5% over last year. Interestingly, nearly two-thirds of these men joined the social network in the last year.

In other words, almost one in five Pinterest users are male, a dramatic change that’s occurred over the past 12 months.

What’s most interesting about this branding shift is that it even happened in the first place. First of all, there’s nothing inherently gendered about Pinterest as a platform in the first place. It’s just a website that lets users pin cool ideas and consumer products for later. Yet, its user base has traditionally been made up of women.

This shift in user base is made even more interesting in the fact the site hasn’t been altered in any way that could be seen as being geared more towards males.

Why, then, has Pinterest suddenly become interesting to men?

Perhaps because they’re finally getting it. Pinterest is just a place to go to for consumer inspiration, whether it be a new recipe for dinner, some cool nautical decor for the living room, a DIY project, a new tattoo, or gift ideas. Nearly three-quarters of active Pinterest users say that they purchased something because they saw it when they were pinning.

What’s more, nearly half of Pinterest users say that they use the site to find products rather than shopping catalogs. They even went so far as to say that Pinterest is their “go-to” sources for DIY and crafts, home decor, and weddings, the survey said.

“It’s true. In our experience Pinterest customers were all women several years ago,” says Scott Tucker, Founder, NauticalDecorStore.com. “We made sure our new site had ‘Pin it’ buttons available because of how swiftly people can acquire decorating concepts from the extensive library of hand picked designs, throughout the Pinterest phenomenon. Now, I think women are showing their men the ropes!”

So if you’re a guy who’s stumped for a date idea, looking for inspiration in the kitchen, or trying to decide how best to build the ultimate man cave, consider checking Pinterest out. It’s not emasculating as you may think it is.