While everyone continues to discuss the validity of Pinterest as a marketing channel, we're far more interested in the user demographics.
Data visualisation community Visual.ly has compared UK Pinterest users to those in the US, uncovering some surprising results.
Though the UK only has 200,000 unique users compared to an estimated 12m in the US, gender split is much more even - with 56% male and 44% female.
Reader comments (7)
11:39AM on 15th February 2012
No, we're not setting a new trend and these results aren't that surprising - the last part of the infographic says it all.
Interests include *web stats, SEO, PR and content marketing*?
No coincidence that until a few weeks ago Pinterest's links were do-follow...
As and when Pinterest gets a stronghold in the UK (already I think it's getting pretty close to tipping point), I think we'll see a major shift in these demographics and end up with a picture that looks more like the US's.
This data is from December - I'd bet a tenner that the same data drawn today would already show this shift in progress.
Head of community at TMW
11:41AM on 15th February 2012
Jemma, it's true, I'd guess that the majority of users are PRs and marketing bods and it will reshift back to 'Pinterest norm' in time.
I'm not convinced we're 'close to tipping point' though...
1:04PM on 15th February 2012
The interesting thing for me here is how different Google's (free) DoubleClick Ad Planner statistics are to the (paid for) data reported by Nielsen and comScore for the same period.
Suffice to say that neither of them agree that male users dominate in the UK - both report that there are more female users, and that they were more active in the same time period.
Digital Marketing Executive at Koozai Ltd
3:28PM on 15th February 2012
I agree with Jemma, I would hesitate to guess that there were more *genuine* users in the US previously, however the first Uk users have heard about it was for it's referral power.
I also think the average household income part goes to show who is interested in the website for its value rather than its content, may be?
As a male, I enjoy looking at every once in a while, but I think there is a lot of interest for the females on there and would expect the UK figures to start to match those of the USA.
4:27PM on 15th February 2012
I agree with Vikki... but to be slightly controversial given the relative numbers and lifestage of Pinterest it could be argued that the geeks among us, who constitute the early adopters, are possibly more likely to be male (generalising wildly for a second, female social network users probably already have a life).
12:10PM on 16th February 2012
Absolutely agree the demographics will change. The UK may not yet be at tipping point but it won't be long. I'd say by the Summer they'll see a couple of million users at least. Personally I love it from a design and general ideas perspective and the shopping opportunities look VERY dangerous!
6:16PM on 23rd February 2012
These demographics are telling, but like any rapidly emerging social media site, they'll change with time. Because women in the U.S. tend to adopt new social media platforms more quickly than men, they're deciding what content is most popular on Pinterest right now. As more male users join the platform, they'll contribute images that attract their gender and the numbers will grow. Should be interesting to see when this shift will actually occur.
Lauren at Volusion
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