Pinterest

Author: Kaitlyn Short

Intro to Pinterest

Top Ranked Companies

Food Network chevron_right

4.5

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(27)

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Allrecipes.com chevron_right

3.8

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(64)

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Betty Crocker chevron_right

4.2

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(13)

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The Good

• Numerous categories
• Searchable pins
• Ability to pin your Favorites
• Ability to create boards dedicated to specific types of pins

Pinterest is a unique site. The company acts as a hub for various forms of information including recipes, style looks, DIY, home décor, etc. Pinterest's self-given title of a "discovery engine" suits them well. They allow users to find these various types of information without having to search the web. A great thing about Pinterest is that it does the work for you. Instead of having to search the web or various websites to find the best recipe for a specific meal, you can compare results from across the web within Pinterest itself. The number of users increases every day and this allows those same users to see more and more pins, which increases the number of recipes you can find. Pinterest and the other users are essentially the user's legs and they walk the internet finding recipes and other items without the person having to search with an engine like Google or Bing. Pinterest, in terms of recipes, is also a good place to find a recipe which will fit your dietary needs. Using the search bar a user can look for recipes using specific terms such as dairy-free, low-sodium, and quick.

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The Bad

• Filtering ability
• Meal planning tool
• Cooking techniques and tips
• Cooking blog

While Pinterest is unique as it acts an information hub, filtering specific results by a number of categories is not available. You can use the search bar to find recipes however they are not displayed in a particular order and the user must rely on searching "tags" to locate recipes. There is also no meal planning tool or tips available. While individual recipes are accessible, creating a meal plan or learning a tip about how to prepare said item may not always be available. This is because when a user locates a recipe they must click off of Pinterest to view the recipe in its entirety on the original website. Additionally, the recipe has the chance of no longer being available on the original website. As a whole, we would not classify Pinterest as a recipe site. This site is a good place to find recipes but the site itself does not host them. They link you to the original website where you can view the recipe or item. This site makes it easier to locate recipes across the web however the recipe itself, any tips, and cooking information will be found on the original website.

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The Bottom Line

All in all we recommend using Pinterest as a search engine. The site does make it much easier to locate recipes from a variety of sources but users should be prepared to encounter recipes which have been taken down as well as the necessity of visiting the original website to obtain recipe instructions and cooking tips.