Do you suffer from “Pinterest stress,” a condition involving the feelings of inadequacy women experience when browsing the perfectly color-coordinated gluten-free meals and explicitly detailed seasonal crafts pinned and repinned to the site?

If you’re a user, the idea of Pinterest stress probably doesn’t even need to be explained — any of the site’s mostly female users will likely instantly recognize the variably unsettling feelings of insufficiency that can sometimes result as we scan the popular social network’s battery of images passive-aggressively lecturing everyone about thighs that don’t touch, why various reasons not to work out are insufficient, how much more worthwhile it is to make your own yogurt, and so on and so forth.

“So totally doing this!” is the type of comment one sees ahead of Pinterest stress, and a TODAY moms survey of more than 7,000 mothers and Pinterest users revealed that indeed, seeing daily declarations from friends that they plan to cook, decorate, exercise and generally do more can make one feel less assured about one’s own level of ambition.

Of TODAY’s survey, the site explains that “42 percent [of moms surveyed about Pinterest] said that they sometimes suffer from Pinterest stress – the worry that they’re not crafty or creative enough … symptoms include staying up until 3 a.m. clicking through photos of exquisite hand-made birthday party favors even though you’ll end up buying yours at the dollar store, or sobbing quietly into a burnt mess of expensive ingredients that were supposed to be adorable bunny cookies for the school bake sale.”

28-year-old Jenna Anderson runs a site called Pinterest Fail, and she tells TODAY:

“[Pinterest stress] tricks you into thinking that everyone is baking their own bread. Pinterest is largely a site of unrealized dreams … We have a hard time enjoying our own experiences because we feel it’s not worthy of this invisible judge. It’s so easy to get depressed. You start to feel like your entire life has to be like a magazine all the time.”

Are you part of the 42 percent of moms suffering Pinterest stress, or does using Pinterest make you feel inspired?

Survey Reveals ‘Pinterest Stress’ Affects Nearly Half Of Moms is a post from: The Inquisitr

The female-focused social network Pinterest has announced a massive $200 million series D funding round. The new money places a $2.5 billion valuation on the massively expanding social network.

The $200 million funding round is led by new investor Valiant Capital Management. Also participating in the social networks newest cash infusion are the usual suspects including Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, and FirstMark Capital.

A new series of funding has been rumored for weeks. One big player believed to have been considering a role in the new round of funding was the Walt Disney Company. It now appears that Disney’s role in Series D fundraising fell through.

Pinterest confirmed its $2.5 billion valuation and announced that the money will be used for the hiring of new employees, new product and technology development, better infrastructure, and international growth among other activities. 

With Pinterest likely to grow its staff of 100, the company is quickly becoming an even bigger powerhouse in the world of social media.

According to Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann:

“Our focus is on helping millions of people discover things they love and get inspiration to go do those things in their life. This investment gives us more resources to help realize that vision.”

In the meantime, Pinterest will continue to develop its advertising platforms and more than likely attempt to find new ways to attract broader demographics. A recent study found that more than 90 percent of all Pinterest users are women, typically living in the middle class.

Do  you think Pinterest is worth a whopping $2.5 billion?

Pinterest Raises $200 Million In Series D Funding Round is a post from: The Inquisitr

Pinterest may paint a pretty picture of chandelier-bedecked laundry rooms with rustic wood floors, but if we were all honest over there, it would look like this.

Realistic Laundry Piles is a post from: The Inquisitr

Popular social image and text sharing website Pinterest is being sued. The lawsuit was filed by Theodore Schroeder and two of his colleagues, the founders of failed social sharing websites Rendezvoo and Skoopwire. According to Schroeder, Pinterest founder Brian Cohen misappropriated ideas he received while working with the Rendezvoo and Skoopwire team. Pinterest says “the lawsuit against Pinterest is baseless.”

Shroeder’s attorney Richard Scheff of Montgomery McCracken says of the filing:

“The bottom line is that it’s illegal to steal an idea for your own benefit without regard to the originator of that idea. Here, Mr. Cohen joined an existing enterprise in which Mr Schroeder had a majority interest, and then took without permission or right Mr. Schroeder’s ideas, concepts, web application and technology.”

Brian Cohen worked with the failed social websites in 2007 and 2008 and Schroeder says work with the sites at that time ultimately generated many of the ideas behind Pinterest. According to the site founder the idea behind Rendezvoo was to:

“Connect things that mattered to a user with other users.”

In his lawsuit the failed social media design says his websites would include common internet elements such as images, hyperlinks, and text descriptions of interesting subjects.”

The lawsuit calls Pinterest an exact match of the company’s concept. It should be noted that Pinterest is not even close to the first company to work any of the ideas listed in the complaint into its design.

The company also says other features of Pinterest were stolen, including “infinite scroll.”

Rendezvoo’s founder also says that Pinterests attempts to use pink and purple colors to lure women is enough reason to sue the company.

Here is the full lawsuit posting:

Pinterest Sued Over Copyright Infringement From Failed Sharing Site Owners is a post from: The Inquisitr

The new “Wanted by Police” gallery on Pinterest is providing law enforcement with a unique tool to aid in the apprehension of criminals. The album was created by a crime reporter working for The Pottstown Mercury, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

Captain F. Richard Drumheller, of the Pottstown Police Department, credits the new trend with a 57% increase in arrests. The small department has been receiving a high volume of calls with information leading to arrests. Some of the calls actually came from people  turning themselves in after seeing the gallery on Pinterest.

Drumheller also praised the gallery for establishing a more positive rapport between the citizens of Pottstown and local law enforcement. Captain Drumheller stated that this makes their job as officers more enjoyable.

They have also been able to network with larger law enforcement agencies throughout Pennsylvania. The city of Pittsburgh has been utilizing social media to identify suspects for some time and has seen many positive results.

The gallery includes a disclaimer that all mugshots are provided by law enforcement officials. Drumheller points out that the list should not be considered a most wanted list. Presently there are approximately 80 people listed, all with outstanding warrants. Their crimes range from simple assault to more serious drug charges.

Lauri Steven, who specializes in social media consultation for law enforcement agencies, urges caution when utilizing social media. Stevens cites an incident involving a prosecutor in Texas who named numerous DUI suspects using Twitter. Although advising caution she admits that utilizing social media such a Pinterest will help circulate the information more effectively.

Mugshots On Pinterest Lead To Arrests is a post from: The Inquisitr

Pinterest Business Accounts rolled out this week could generate even more purchases for small and big businesses alike. HubSpot reports that 47 percent of online shoppers made a purchase based upon recommendations on Pinterest.

Facebook pages have become an integral part of marketing for even the smallest of businesses. Pinterest Business Accounts now offer another completely free form of advertising for companies. According to the guide to creating a business account with the social networking website, the free service will help brands provide greater content and visual marketing success.

The Pinterest Guide to creating a new Business Account helps both novice and veteran users set up a page quickly after verifying the company website. Pinterest widgets and buttons can also be added to existing websites so shoppers can share their finds on their own boards.

The business specific accounts have a separate set of terms and conditions that personal accounts, according to Practical Ecommerce. The new Pinterest Business Accounts may eventually include promotional options for professional users.

Pinterest Product Manager Cat Lee published this statement on the company’s blog:

“Thousands of businesses have become part of our community, giving great ideas, content and inspiration to people on Pinterest. Whether it’s Anthropologie sharing awesome clothes, Whole Foods sharing tasty recipes, the Smithsonian sharing fascinating collections, or Amazon making products easy to pin, many of us have been inspired on Pinterest by businesses. We want to help more businesses provide great content on Pinterest and make it easy to pin from their websites. Today, we’re taking a first step toward that goal with some free tools and resources.”

Pinterest: New Business Accounts Launched Just In Time For Black Friday is a post from: The Inquisitr

This is funny because its true. Pinterest provides great inspiration but very little motivation.

Pinterest: Seriously Does Anyone Actually Cook Pinned Recipes? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Yes, it’s an old sexist joke but also a great way to save sandwiches and share your desire.

Pinterest For Men is a post from: The Inquisitr

It’s kind of like that.

What You Need To Know About Pinterest is a post from: The Inquisitr

Pinterest is now available to the masses. The DIY-Idea-Generating website recently dropped its “invite-only” system and opened the site up to the general public. Now, Pinterest has gone mobile with new apps for iOS and Android.

Pinterest writes on its blog:

“It may sound funny, but our goal has never been to keep you online. Instead, we want to inspire you to go offline and do things that you love. Today, we’re making it easier to take your inspirations with you by providing new apps for Android, iPad and iPhone. The apps are now available for download at Apps.Pinterest.com.”

The website notes that while an iPhone app has been available Pinterest users have frequently asked for an android app. Well, here it is. The android app can be downloaded via the link above or through the Google Play Store. The android app was designed to work with devices of all sizes and speeds.

Pinterest writes:

“Android owners have been very vocal with their requests for an app – every product announcement we’ve recently made has resulted in the question “What about an Android app?” We were listening, and our custom-designed Android app makes it simple and fast to pin, so that the time you spend on Pinterest is as productive as possible. We also made sure the app works well on Android phones and tablets, regardless of your device’s cost, speed or screen size.”

But for the best pinning experience, the bookmarking site points to its new iPad app.

“iPad owners may have the best Pinterest experience yet. Our new iPad app is perfect for sitting on the couch, on a train, or in bed where users can effortlessly discover, save and organize the things that interest them.”

The iPhone app has also received a re-design, making it faster and easier to read.

Are you going to download the Pinterest app?

Co-Founder and CEO Ben Silbermann said that he expects the mobile apps to be extremely popular since Pinterest is a website that begs people to get off their computers and create something. With the mobile apps, Silbermann hopes that people will keep Pinterest in their pocket for when ever inspiration hits.

Pinterest Releases Mobile Apps For iPhone, iPad And Android is a post from: The Inquisitr

Time Warner Cable has joined the legions of companies — albeit many of which sell a physical product — using Pinterest to reach out to customers.

Time Warner Cable announced its new Pinterest boards in a press release, branching out with several categories in hope fevered pinners will begin promoting its products and services across the popular, shopping-oriented social network.

Time Warner Cable’s Pinterest boards, listed in the press release, are:

• Enjoy Movies Better
• Enjoy Shows Better
• Enjoy Sports Better
• Enjoy HBO® Better
• Products & Services
• Enjoy Music Better
• Enjoy Technology Better
• Mi Cultura
• Close to Home
• Connect a Million Minds

Time Warner Cable has been pinning on Pinterest for over a month now, though the press release just went out this week to alert fans to the company’s use of the service. As of now, Time Warner Cable has 70 pinners following its 10 boards, and the cable brand follows 68 of them.

In the release, Jeffrey Hirsch, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Residential Services at Time Warner Cable, commented on the cable company’s decision to use Pinterest to promote its products and services:

“At Time Warner Cable, our goal is to bring our customers everything they love… Connecting with our customers through social media is a great way to do just that, and we are very excited be a part of such a fun, new social media platform. We look forward to hearing from customers as they explore our new page.”

Interested in following Time Warner Cable on Pinterest? You can find their boards at pinterest.com/twc.

Time Warner Cable Joins Pinterest is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you happen to be part of a hot startup and you want to be around other hot startups you no longer wade through the tech legacy of Palo Alto, California instead you head to San Francisco. Social media darling Pinterest packed its bags this week and left Palo Alto to work alongside other big names in the social industry including Twitter, Zynga and Airbnb.

After Pinterest packed up and moved to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee who has made landing top tech firms a top priority proclaimed:

“I am thrilled to welcome Pinterest to the ‘Innovation Capital of the World,’ and am pleased that our efforts to attract and retain the industry’s best and most innovative companies are working.”

The social pinning network leased some short-term space at Seventh and Brannan streets but is planning a long-term relocation to the SoMa district.

Mayor Lee also noted that Pinterest is expected to witness some “immediate growth” but what that means is still unclear.

The move is smart on Pinterest’s part, after threatening to leave San Francisco Twitter was able to receive some sizeable tax breaks while moving into a more spacious office building. With tech a top priority in the city Pinterest can expect to negotiate excellent tax terms in the future.

Pinterest is now part of a long list of company’s to leave Palo Alto for San Francisco and surrounding areas. The most recent move came from Facebook who headed into the old Sun Microsystems campus in Menlo Park after an extensive refurbishing project.

In the meantime Mayor Ed Lee celebrated the occasion with the launch of his own Pinterest profile.

Pinterest Flees Palo Alto, Ends Up In San Francisco Office Building is a post from: The Inquisitr

Instagram users were out of luck for large chunks of Saturday as severe heat and violent storms across the the eastern U.S. caused sever outages that had the site down for hours. Pinterest and Netflix had similar outages, leaving the sites to update subscribers using Twitter and Facebook.

The site outages left many users searching for answers Saturday, with “Instagram” the top search term on Google, the Associated Press reported. Instagram took to its Facebook page to tell users that the site was taken down by electrical storms, and after hours of work service for the sites were mostly restored by the afternoon.

Netflix, Instagram and Pinterest are all customers of Amazon Inc.’s web services division, which provides data storage facilities used for “cloud computing,” the Associated Press reported. Amazon officials said some of its services were down during electrical storms that knocked out power for more than three million people.

Tech savvy users could already figure out the problem through Amazon’s server status page, but the site outages sent ripples of panic throughout the internet, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“Netflix down, Pinterest down, Instagram down,” Twitter user @lexibridges wrote. “People, if this isn’t the sign of the apocalypse I don’t know what is.”

Pinterest and Netflix were the first sites back up as engineers worked to fix the problems. Instagram, the site that allows users to take photos, apply filters and share the pics with friends, took a bit longer, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Its users were particularly flummoxed with the problem.

“My Instagram is down?” wrote Twitter user @YourFavWhiteMan. “What am I supposed to with my food, eat it?”

Instagram, Pinterest Users Shut Out: Electrical Storms Knock Out Popular Sites is a post from: The Inquisitr

Facebook was, before Pinterest, the main social media destination for people to dump their most-wanted items, perhaps to serve as a sort of virtual closet-cum-wishlist.

Sharing wants on Facebook can almost work to create a brand persona for individuals — even if your closet is filled with Target masstige items, you can convey to friends that your the sort of person who appreciates Birkin bags and Jimmy Choo shoes, and instead of the McRib you’re currently snacking upon, you’re the type to kick back with grapefruit moscato sangria and fig camembert crostinis.

But Pinterest moved into a space Facebook never necessarily tried to occupy, allowing a mostly female user base to cultivate a more dynamic online persona — one of someone who is well-dressed, in charge of their kitchen, with a superbly-appointed home.

And not surprisingly, the idea caught on like wildfire, with pinners across many nations using the site to organize items and ideas visually as well as giving them a place to share those items without the encumbrance of a more committed (Facebook-style) friendship.

However, it’s rumored that much like when Foursquare began gaining steam with check-ins, Facebook is gearing up to cut into the space with the introduction of a native competitor — this time, in the form of a Facebook “want” button.

According to the Los Angeles Times, rumors of a Facebook want button gained credence this week with the observation of a random web developer who noticed a new Facebook command:

“The developer, Tom Waddington, said the button’s code appeared in Facebook’s Javascript SDK as a tag that reads ‘,’ and he has somehow gotten it to show up on his website, although it’s still a work in progress… The button looks like Facebook’s Like button and all its other buttons in that it has blue wording on top of a light blue bubble, but it also includes an icon with a plus button, based off of the one on Waddington’s website. If you click it now, it’ll say your name followed by ‘wants this.’ However, it’ll also give you a very red ‘Error’ message.”

Would you ditch Pinterest if Facebook added a “want” button?

Facebook Could Take on Upstart Pinterest With Two Words: ‘Want Button’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

“Food porn,” as it is commonly called, sounds illicit — but if you’re a fan, you know it as a relatively harmless way of excising your high-calorie urges as well as a nice visual field trip into a land where cookies, brownies and ice cream all co-exist in a tastebud-titillating landscape.

Food porn almost feels like a guilty pleasure, so tied into indulgence and our guilt processes are diet and eating — but the food porn habit is a mostly harmless one, in which we can indulge without worrying about jiggly thighs and health risks like diabetes… right? Right?

It’s kind of funny, because if you open up Pinterest, it’s half disembodied torsos of women with tooth-chipping abs superimposed with some phrase about lapping everyone on the couch and the virtue of having a concave abdomen and a space between your thighs — and half pictures of deep-fried marshmallow fluff sandwiches drizzled with Nutella. It’s like the inner torment of the female, body-hating brain splayed out over so many visually appealing squares on a website, tagged for easy searching.

But new research reveals that even merely looking at food porn, be it a plate of fries with cheese and bacon or cookies baked into cookies baked into cookies for a sort of stoner’s dream of Cookieception, can mess with your brain in fat-promoting ways. Bummer.

i09 explains that new research presented at a meeting of weight specialists referencing a study in which overweight Hispanic women were shown images of healthy food, “food porn” food, and non-food – and the food porn made the reward sectors of people’s brains light up:

“At the Endocrine Society’s 94th Annual Meeting in Houston, Dr. Kathleen Page is presenting research into the way the brain’s reward systems interacts with sugar intake, and images of food. Her research hooked 13 obese, Hispanic women from the ages of 15-25 up to an fMRI, and took brain readings, while showing them pictures… whenever people looked at the food, the areas of the brain that are thought to be related to reward and appetite lit up — and this was truer with the high-calorie images than the low-calorie ones.”

So food porn, perhaps like real porn, can wiggle its way eventually into your diet-planning decisions. Will you be deleting your cake boards?

‘Food Porn’ is Making You Fat, Buzzkill Scientists Say, Pinterest Weeps is a post from: The Inquisitr

First Lady Michelle Obama has officially joined Pinterest, one of the most popular social media sites among women.

Launched by the Obama campaign, Michelle already has 1,400 followers and has officially hopped on the train after President Obama launched his account back in March.

Already with over 15 pins on her board, Mrs. Obama has included pictures that contain “Father’s Day”, “Around The White House”, and “Memories”, which includes a black and white photo from their wedding day  in 1992.

Martha T. Moore of USA Today points out that more and more political moves are involving the use of “Pinterest” and that it centers around one central theme … the women’s vote.

Moore writes:

“A boom in users on the social media site — and the fact that more than two-thirds are women — is attracting political messages to the site best known for recipes, crafts and I-want-that images.

In political persuasion, as in marketing, “it’s always the next big hot thing,” says Zac Moffatt, digital director for Republican Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. “And it’s kind of hot right now.”

Beth Becker, a digital media consultant, says there was little or no political content on Pinterest when she started using the site in January. Now, advocacy groups such as ThinkProgress, a website run by the liberal Center for American Progress; the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank; the AFL-CIO; the Democratic National Committee; and a gaggle of Republican members of Congress are on the site.

“It’s really new, so organizations are cautiously putting toes in the water,” says Jonah Seiger of Connections Media, a political digital strategy firm.

They’re attracted because Pinterest has a lot of users — it jumped from 11.7 million unique users in January to 18.7 million in March — and most of those users are women, whose votes are considered to be critical in the presidential contest.

users create virtual bulletin boards of their interests and “pin” pictures to them. Users Pinterest can follow one another’s boards and also “re-pin” images to their own. There are captions and comments but, like the social media site Tumblr, Pinterest is mostly about the pictures — although that can include pithy captions, charts and infographics.”

Michelle Obama’s newly created “Pinterest” account comes a full three months after her husband’s opponent’s wife, Ann Romney.

Will you follow Michelle Obama on her new Pinterest account?

Michelle Obama Pinterest: First Lady Officially Launches Account is a post from: The Inquisitr

Hey, if you think you’re better than Applebee’s with their gallon of fun-sized, “rita”-appended drinks and variety of popperz-themed foods, Applebee’s wants you to know that they’re looking down on you, too, Ms. I’m Too Fancy For Appetizer Samplers.

Applebee’s may draw ire from self-proclaimed foodies across America for their ubiquitous scourge of uninspired, tepid cuisine for people who find the mall an adventurous and novel way to spend a day off, but the company is aware of this whole social media trend, they’ll have you know.

And while pinners may favor handmade butters, artisanal breads and soups that come from actual ingredients instead of having been squished from a giant plastic bag by a sweaty server, Applebee’s finds your practices pretty sad, too.

Or so a new series of ads roundly critiquing social media users as losers who never leave the house suggests.

The ads in question aren’t really insulting or offensive in any way, it’s just kind of funny to speak from a position of being cooler by appearing in public at an Applebee’s. The shopping center staple’s menu isn’t known for innovation or even freshness, and the venues themselves are hardly hotspots.

Three ads separately skewer women who enjoy Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook, insinuating that the camaraderie that occurs over social networks is not comparable to the kind that occurs in real life. You know, like at Applebee’s, over a plate of Skinz and a pitcher of some Midori-infused, sickly sweet date rape horror beverage.

Below, Applebee’s social media-themed ads- you can go get made fun of more by Applebee’s by heading over to LifeIsBetterShared.com, a Tumblr dedicated to how much of a loser being on social media makes you, according to the restaurant.

Applebee’s Takes Aim at Social Media Users in Series of Mocking Ads is a post from: The Inquisitr

Pinterest is a relative newcomer to the social media scene, but if anything has taken off with a bullet in the past six months, its this social “pinning” site with a strong visual focus and emphasis on brevity.

Almost immediately, Pinterest was branded as a bit of an estrogen-only zone, and a quick perusal of the site reveals that indeed, it is a very chick-friendly place. But so too is it to-the-point and efficient, with products and services being shared and ostensibly picked up upon by the ever-growing fanbase of fervent “pinners.”

And despite being fairly new to the social media space, Pinterest is already beating out the dominant social network in one very key area: driving sales. It’s no secret that Pinterest is best suited for promoting and moving product, with its rapid-fire search-and-share interface- and if we’re going to stereotype, here, captive audience of a prime spending demographic, being young to middle-aged women with an interest in shopping and style.

Facebook’s advantage is that everyone is there, while Pinterest still only has a comparative tiny share in the market when it comes to numbers of users. But still, a far larger number of Pinterest users have been motivated to whip out the plastic and click “Buy Now” via the service, versus users of Facebook.

The infographic below slices and dices sales information among other social media trends, and Pinterest users report purchasing items seen on the site at a rate of 59% to Facebook’s paltry 33%. 79% of Pinterest users rated themselves as more likely to purchase an item seen on Pinterest than one seen on Facebook. All in all, Facebook and Pinterest included, users reported sharing purchases at a rate of 55%.

Pinterest Better at Driving Sales Than Facebook [Infographic] is a post from: The Inquisitr

It would definitely kinda look like this, and would probably get boring after a while.

Pinterest For Men is a post from: The Inquisitr

It’s actually only marginally less compelling than the one with pictures.

Pictureless Pinterest is a post from: The Inquisitr

Though Facebook still holds a fairly comfortable lead on social networking giant Twitter, one new social network is sneaking into the picture, picking up users left and right. No, I’m not talking about Google+, I’m talking about Pinterest. Now we’re hearing that a new noteworthy user has joined the fold: Facebook CEO and developer Mark Zuckerberg.

The invite-only social media darling Pinterest has been getting all the right nods lately, starting with the mainstream press adoption and integration of the platform in 2011 over rivals Facebook and Twitter. All Facebook reports that Zuck has signed his digital life away to the new networking site, but what does this mean? Is he being a gentleman? A philosopher dedicated to the idea of social media rather than a cunning businessman who seeks to root out and destroy the competition? Is he just checking it out? Keeping tabs on his competition?

Well for starters, Zuckerberg also has accounts on Twitter and Google+, though his accounts are fairly inactive. His Pinterest account http://pinterest.com/zuck/ isn’t exactly humming either, and about all you can get out of it right now is, “Oh hey, he liked Moneyball too”. He’s following more than 100 users, but doesn’t have much content posted. His Pinterest is, of course, linked to his Facebook.

Pinterest is arguably the hottest startup of 2012, with 10 million signed on right away, 2 million connected through Facebook, and use by more than 100 brands. It’s up-and-coming, the sky is the limit, insert third cliche here, and maybe Zuckerberg is just curious to see what all the hubbub is about.

Do you follow Zuckerberg on Twitter or Google+? Will you follow him on Pinterest?

Traitor! Mark Zuckerberg Joins Pinterest is a post from: The Inquisitr

It never, ever, fails. The moment you have some new social network that pokes its head up into the Web someone out there will take the time to setup a fake account of a prominent person and then go all satirical with it.

In this instance the social network was the still in beta-invite only network Pinterest and the target of satire was none other than Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. The account on Pinterest was originally called MittRomneyGOP and in the fashion of Pinterest you could find such items as Pellegrino and expensive caviar pinned to the wall.

Well apparently this didn’t sit too well with the Romney campaign who within 24 hours of finding out about the Pinterest account contacted the company to deal with what they perceived as being a ‘identity’ problem in that the account was very misleading and a request to have the name of the account changed to fakemittromney.

Eric Spiegelman, the humorist behind the fake account, apparently resisted any attempts to agree to the change at which point Pinterest went ahead and made the change anyway, which as Spiegelman pointed out totally destroyed any of the links from before the change.

Here is the email exchange between Eric Spiegelman and Enid Hwang Community Manager for Pinterest about the matter (courtesy of Gawker).

First up the letter to Spiegelman from Pinterest

From: Enid Hwang
Date: Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 9:51 AM PST
Subject: Pinterest: “MittRomneyGOP” username
To: Eric Spiegelman

Hi Eric,

I’m Enid, the Community Manager at Pinterest. As you might have guessed, I’m writing regarding your username “MittRomneyGOP.” We were recently contacted by officials from Mitt Romney’s campaign because they feel it’s very misleading and they’re requesting that it be changed to “fakemittromney.”

We actually really appreciate political commentary on Pinterest – and I know your account is clearly satirical – but we’re a young company so we don’t have a feature/process in place for “verified accounts” (such as Twitter) which would make the purpose of your account immediately obvious to any user on the site.

If you don’t mind changing your username, let me know. Or, you can just go ahead and make the switch yourself at: https://pinterest.com/settings. We’ve been brainstorming alternatives and unfortunately we feel changing your profile picture or adding a byline on your “bio” section on Pinterest may not be sufficient because that information isn’t included with all pins that propagate through the site.

We’re also really open to discussing the issue more with you, so you can reach me directly at [REDACTED] if you have any questions.

I’m sorry for the trouble and again, don’t hesitate to call if you’re concerned about this!

—
Enid

community manager . pinterest.com/enid . @pinterest

This is Eric’s reply to that above email

From: Eric Spiegelman
Date: Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 10:14 AM PST
Subject: Re: Pinterest: “MittRomneyGOP” username
To: Enid Hwang

Hi Enid,

Obviously I understand your concern. And I can imagine as a new company (one that’s really doing a great job), you’d prefer not to have hassles like this. But at the same time, you’re a publishing entity that’s more or less open to the public, and I can’t in good conscience change my parody at the request of the subject of that parody. It should be obvious to the Romney campaign that nobody sees this as official, and that I am exercising my Free Speech rights in making fun of Gov. Romney’s utter tone-deafness when it comes to matters of privilege and class inequality.

That being said, I understand that you are well within your rights to delete my account. But I really hope you choose not to.

You have a wonderful service in Pinterest, and I wish your team all the best, however you proceed with this.

Best,
Eric

Enid’s followup email to Eric

From: Enid Hwang
Date: Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 10:24 AM PST
Subject: Re: Pinterest: “MittRomneyGOP” username
To: Eric Spiegelman

Hi Eric,

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly: We have no intention of deleting your account. It’s satire and it should stay! We’ll change the username (this doesn’t affect your boards, pins, or anything else about your profile settings) and we feel that’s sufficient. Once we institute verified accounts this, and any future issues, will be taken care of universally. That’s our responsibility so sorry again for having you caught in the middle of it.

I really appreciate your note (and compliments!) and thanks so much for your understanding,

Enid

And Eric’s final email back before Pinterest went ahead and changed the account name anyway.

From: Eric Spiegelman
Date: Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 10:40 AM PST
Subject: Re: Pinterest: “MittRomneyGOP” username
To: Enid Hwang

No, I mean, I’d prefer you don’t change my username either.

I have a sneaking feeling this might not be done with yet but we’ll see.

Pinterest’s first satire account raises the ire of Mitt Romney’s campaign is a post from: The Inquisitr

Or Reddit, which isn’t really a social network but please check out my ragecomic about a donut and upvote if you like it!

Social Networks Explained is a post from: The Inquisitr