I have some not so good thoughts about this PINTEREST craze....do you wanna here them? OK, here goes. I have begun to realize that a LOT of my photos here on my blog are ending up over on PINTEREST. If it wasn't for the fact that I have sitemeter I probable wouldn't have known it. I guess I should feel flattered and in a lot of ways I am. BUT......I feel my blog and all that is contained in it is MINE. When I started my blog I didn't share it with anyone who knows me. My little quilty blog was a place I could feel free to share my craft and sometimes some personal thoughts WITHOUT familiar people/others in my community/and certain other unwanted visitors always questioning me about what or why I was doing things on my blog. Up until now I have felt quite safe and anonymous here in my little corner of quilt blogland. No one I know in my area quilts so I felt pretty safe they would never end up here on my blog.
Today I discovered a photo of mine on someone's PIN that is one step away from a LOT of people that know me in my area coming to my blog. I don't like this. I feel sort of robbed of my peace of mind. Seems daily my blog is bombarded with those who just run in and take what they want. I have not had one person ask me it they could use my photos. You would think they could at least make nice and leave a comment, tell you they like your blog, your quilts or something!!!
Yes, I know.....some of you may think I'm over reacting, but until now my blog wasn't drawing anyone except other quilt makers. I've had contact with most of the gals who visit me, I pretty well knew who would be coming over for a 'read' AND my quilty blog buddies weren't taking my photos to share all over the NET. I'm not really sure how far my photos have gone.
I don't really want my next door neighbor here by accident because they clicked on a PINTEREST photo and ended up here.
As for the few tutorials I have done, they were done for my quilty friends......my loyal followers when they asked me to share my process with them. Of course I would share, it was sorta of a thank you for a lot of you who have also shared tutorials and how-to's. I know, I know.....when you post something on the internet it is there for 'whoever' but until PINTEREST came along I really didn't worry about it because only true quilters were interested.
I've done some reading and such today and there are some articles out there that describe the legality/copyright of taking photos and pinning them on PINTEREST. PINTEREST has removed themselves from legal action by getting those who sign up to agree in the setup to take responsiblity for what you PIN. They won't be responsible...you will be. The lady who wrote one of the articles I read said she had taken all of her pins down to keep it legal on her end, she being a LAWYER. I want to opt out of my photos being pinned. How do I get those who have already pinned to take my photos down. How would you find them all.......????? I just want things to go back to the way they were before PINTEREST rudely interrupted my blog!!
So.......these are my thoughts on the matter.
Do you have any thoughts????
I was also wondering why my hits were up on certain points until I did a search of my blog pins and found that my tutorials and quilts are pinned. I'm not thrilled about it either -- I had signed up for a Pinterest account, but now I'm not going to bother. I'm with you on not wanting to be pinned without permission. No one has asked me either.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree.
ReplyDeletePersonally I love pinterest.. I use it to find my way back to a project or recipe I wish to try.. I even pin my own blog pictures in hopes it will lead people to my blog.. but then I've always had an internet rule that I never post or email any information that I wouldn't be willing to shout from my rooftop.
ReplyDeletesorry you're unhappy with it.. trust me I've not pined anything of yours.
You can block your site from being "pin-able". I'm not entirely sure how to do it, but I don't think it is hard.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think that if you put it on the internet, you need to be prepared for EVERYONE to see it. Nothing is private, no matter how much you'd like it to be.
Also, everything that is pinned is linked and credited to the original site. No one is taking credit for your work. I can completely understand why you'd prefer someone to ask first, but unfortunately the internet NEVER works that way. Once it's out there it's out there.
I feel the same way as you and have posted a few posts on my blog last week, there is a way to stop it, come over and check it out, I have not made friends and lost quiet a number of followers because of my feelings about Pinterest, anyway you win some you lose some.
ReplyDeleteCheck out my blog there is a post regarding how to stop people taking your stuff from your blog.
Take care
Tried to figure out Pinterest. Then saw people were following me whe there's nothing there. also that I"m following people I've never heard of? Pinning and repinning is silly. I'd rather bookmark something or add to my "favorites" list. I'm sorry people have stolen your ideas and photos. Maybe they'll read your blog and unpin them!
ReplyDeleteI just read a blog post about how to find your pictures from your blog on pintrest and how to block your blog photos.....but crap, I can't remember where I saw it. I will do my best to find that post and send it to you. I found a few of my customers quilts that I quilted over on pintrest, I don't facebook, tweet, pin, I just quilt and blog. Who has time for all that??
ReplyDeleteI do miss you in blogland though.
I hear you...it IS an invasion...and what ever happened to common courtesy?
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to an article with very easy to follow instructions to make your blog images "unpinnable" .
http://makingamark.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/pinterest-how-to-prevent-your-blogger.html
Best regards, Kate
A LOT of my photos have been pinned too and NO ONE has asked me if they could do it. then I read on a couple other blogs that Pinterest now OWNS anything that has been pinned and can do whatever they like with it. I hope that's not true.
ReplyDeleteAs some of the commenters pointed out, you can prevent people from pinning from your blog by going to Pinterest and their help section. The only other way to prevent this is to take your blog private and only open to invited members. I think there will be a lot of people who do that because of the feelings you express. However, once photos are public I don't think they can ever be completely erased from the Internet! I went to Pinterest recently to see what people have pinned of mine and it was interesting to see. I watermark all my photos and learned that all the pins link back to the blog they were pinned from too. So far I haven't decided whether to be unpinnable or not but know exactly where you are coming from!
ReplyDeleteHi, I would like to say that I find your blog very interesting. I have a blog as well and I only ever put things in my blog that I don't mind sharing. The internet is such a useful tool but also an invasive one. Please only put things on the blog you would like to share. For me, Pinterest is a pinboard for me to stick things to for easy reference. Things I find on the internet that can be looked at and admired anytime without having to remember where I saw it. I spend alot of time on the internet reading other blogs and picking up helpful tips along the way. If you put any photos on your blog, make sure you watermark them with your name. Then if they appear anywhere else on the internet, everyone will know they are yours. But once again, please do not put anything on the internet that you are not willing to share with everyone in the world!
ReplyDeleteYour quilty friend in the UK,
Hi again! I just tried the instructions on the blog that Kate (above) gave. It works. Just follow the instructions on how to change your blog template and you will have no problems with anyone pinning your work! Thanks Kate!
ReplyDeleteI've gone off Pinterest big time. I don't like violating copyright laws. It makes me feel like a burglar. If I find something I like on a web site that's different, but not on someone's blog.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you for feeling furious. I would be too. How can you tell if your photos have been pinned?
I've just added the HTML mentioned in Kate's comment and it works!
xx
Just read your post... I do follow your blog. I love Pinterest, and have pinned many quilts, as I find it's a good way to save collections of quilt photos. I have seen my quilts and photos pinned by a number of people, and they retain the links back to my blog. That doesn't bother me. HOWEVER, I do think I will now take the time, from this point on, to put a copyright notice and my blog address on each and every picture I post. What a pain to have to do, but I guess it is necessary. I view Pinterest as another way to spread the word about my website.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of us are in the same boat. To easily find out what's been pinned go to http://pinterest.com/source/yourdomainename.com/ Just put your blog name in the "your domain" spot. I've been trying to get the don't pin thing to work but have been unable too. I'll try Kate's suggestion.
ReplyDeleteI've always been fairly careful with my content, knowing once it's out there...it's really out there.
I just can't get over Pinterest owning our photos once they are pinned....I really hope it isn't true but it sure sounds like it is.
Hi
ReplyDeleteI understand your concerns and I have read all the comments on this topic. I find it interesting that many people think it is OK to copy photos to another site just because they are on the internet. I think of a blog as similar to a magazine article with the same type of Intellectual Copy Right. It is also illegal to post photos of another person on the web without their permission.
Thanks for an interesting post on a burgeoning problem. If I like a photo I bookmark it so I can refer back to the site. Thumbs down to Pinterest.
ReplyDeleteI just did the search and found that someone has indeed pinned a photo from my blog. I don't know how to do this watermark/label thing. I'll have to find a tutorial on that. I don't mind so much being pinned as long as it links back to me, but labeling each picture with a watermark would be good I think. It would be nice if people asked first. And I'm totally with you on the little corner of quilty friends, with no one you know really reading. That's how I keep mine. A couple of friends are followers, and one mentioned how come I don't post on Facebook when I make a new blog post, and it's for that reason, I like my blog to be quilty/crafty/anonymous, kind of. I don't want everyone always asking me about it. I am right there with you!!
ReplyDeletehello female in the united states! I probably go the other way on this. I am guilty of pinning things with no permission. They are things I love to look at. I equate it to being in a blog list and getting hits from there. Of course there is more accountability there. I had seen your Boo block, but never repinned it. I knew where it was if I wanted to go back and look at it. Now I am glad I didn't...I don't want to end up on your $**t list!!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Joe Tulips on this one. I love Pinterest and have to admit I never ask permission. BUT I always try to make sure there's a link back to the original source. figuring that if people put it on the internet, they want it to be seen... I love being able to look at all the quilts that inspire me in one place.
ReplyDeleteBravo to you. I completely agree. I really enjoy visiting blogs and completely understand that what yours is yours. The fact that you share with your quilt friends is tremendous, but that said, it was not meant for the "world". Our lives have become much too public.
ReplyDeletesue
I hear what you are trying to get across...especially since you wanted to keep your blog to JUST quilt bloggers and not family or neighbors. Mine knows about my blog because of my quilt business as well. I TRY to keep my blog to just quilting and not talking about people personal to me for fear they will read what I WANT TO RANT ABOUT. LOL At same time, when you put something out on the internet IT IS OUT THERE FOR ALL TO SEE. I remind my sons about FACEBOOK photos and such all the time and how employers will see it too. You can make your blog to be seen only by those you invite and that may help too. I posted some links awhile back about Pinterest thoughts and offended a few Im sure. Personally I dont mind photos taken because it is usually quilts I quilted and that is advertising for me. I do worry about copyrights broken in blogland. I have seen people tutorial a pattern that is for sale! SERIOUSLY!! I lurk on others Pinterest pages and have found a wealth of info that I likely would have ever known about. There are some great recipe pins!! LOL In fact, made a meal last night that I found in pinterest and it was to die for! A real keeper! Gettning back to illegal...there was a blogger who found a cross stitch design but didnt find designer to purchase it. She was able to enlarge it enough to copy it!
ReplyDeleteWhat a tangled mess with Pinterest for sure. I hear ya!
Are you ready to start sewing now??
ReplyDeleteOk...this is just me checking to see if I have that crazy word verification thingy on my comment section
ReplyDeleteHi I found this article on the legal issues of pintrest very intersting
ReplyDeletehttp://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-28/tech/31106641_1_repinning-copyright-entire-image
Basically beware of copying other peoples photo's to pintrest.
I have missed you....I love your creativity.
ReplyDeleteI've missed you too!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your new header! It's very "You", and it makes me smile.
WOW - I had never been to Pinterest before and the first page I looked at had a picture from my blog with no link back or credit at all.
ReplyDeleteI've been following the discussions and I changed my blog so photos can't be pinned. I know practically my whole blog is over on pinterest. In saying that, I'm still in two minds and do realise that I'm on the internet and I'm also happy to share within reason.
ReplyDeleteI think you've made some excellent points about keeping your blog withing the quilting community.
I love Pinterest and seeing the different things that are posted there. They give me so much inspiration and being able to find the source of the picture is great. It enables people to see things that I or other people have done and enables us to go right to the source and ask questions.
ReplyDeleteI guess I feel that if you have a blog and are posting pictures and tutorials that can be found by a Google search, what would be the harm of letting a bigger audience who don't read or have blogs seeing the same information? I think for the majority of people they just love seeing the pictures, but I'm sure there are a lot of people (such as myself) that when I see something that I like really appreciate being able to find the source.
I love Pinterest. If I had a blog I would be flattered that someone liked my stuff well enough to pin it. But I also wouldn't post anything that I didn't want copied such as patterns/instructions. There is no privacy on the Internet. You should not be writing/posting in a public forum things you don't want every one in the world to see/read. Just my opinion...
ReplyDeletehi,
ReplyDeletewow, I have added and pinned and yes it could be an 'invasion' BUT... I have only done it because I liked the items and as many others say, wanted to remember where it is...
My grey matter not being as youthful as it once was can't cope with all the storing of resources that I 'research', so its a fabulous tool for me...
If someone is plagiarising then yes they should have their little hands slapped, but again, if like me, they are just pinning because they like your work and want everyone else to see your work rather than steal your ideas, then why not? If it brings a customer or two your way then its profitable isn't it?
I personally post pictures knowing that they are not my property anymore, so don't give a toot if they've been added to another, however, I do like the idea of watermarks so that they come back to me rather than anothers web site... will be adopting that in future x
I used to bookmark my favorite pictures and tutorials from blogs. Unfortunately, when my computer died I lost most of them. Recently I started emailing the links to myself.
ReplyDeleteWell hello and thanks for your very informational comment on my Pinterest post. Let me tell you it is a demon. I can't believe so many of your readers think that once stuff is on the Internet that it can be used and reused all over the place. That is so very wrong by copyright law as you know since you've done the research. Not only that but it is morally wrong and if it continues I think the government or some other regulators will step in. We don't want that do we? The solution is to use common sense and don't take things that don't belong to you. The other thing about link backs-yeah right! When a blogger's posts are consolidated on Pinterest there is no valid url- so no link back. I am happy Aaron worked with you as he did with me. I hope it has stopped for you and for others like us. On my blog I only got one nasty email about my post. I guess I was lucky. It was from a person who had been blogging as long as me and we had talked before. It was unexpected. She likened pinning of photos to clipping magazine articles and putting them on your fridge. That in no way compares as you must buy a magazine and most likely that photo will not leave your fridge to be pinned to every other fridge in the world. Totally different. Of course there are lots of opinions but I'm with yours 100%. Thanks for leaving a comment to let me know you had been there and to back me up. I actually randomly emailed a blogger about her pics on Pinterest and she never responded. There are always two sides to the coin but it boils down to that if we-the legal owners of our work-don't want to be pinned we should have control. There are other measures out there to protect your photos and Pinterest is working to improve the process for us too. Email me offline and I'll steer you to another method I found. Take care and good luck with the demon called Pinterest. On the other websites-I send the owner (it's normally listed ) a cease and desist letter and my photos magically disappear. It works almost every time. Take care. I like that idea of emailing bookmarks to themselves. I found that works for me too with photos and articles I like as my computer crashed last year and it was a nightmare.
ReplyDeleteJust to play devil's advocate here: When I see a beautiful image on Pinterest and repin it, I do so because I want to be able to tap the image when I have more time later, in order to go to that person's blog and learn more about their work. In my experience, Pinterest is not about stealing, but sort of like creating a scrapbook of images from magazines back in the day. I use my scrapbook of images for inspiration--the added benefit is that unlike a paper scrapbook, it lets me link back to the source..
ReplyDeletePinterest is not the only way that your blog is manipulated, not that this will make you feel better! I read about 50 quilting blogs every day through an iPad app called Flipboard, which arranges all the posts in all 50 blogs chronologically. Like Pinterest, this takes your posts and manipulates them and makes them different. It changes the typeface and layout and selects images to highlight. I love it because it gives me access to the work of so many rills ant, creative people so much more efficiently, like Pinterest.
I hope you'll embrace Pinterest, rather than thinking of it as theft. What do you lose? My guess is that if you have a commercial element to your site, your sales will increase, not be harmed. I've very rarely come across an image on Pinterest that is not tethered to its original source. It is common for the source to be unmentioned in the immediate caption, but all Pinterest users understand that the image source is just two clicks away. Users, in my experience, are fans of what they are flagging. To be pinned on Pinterest shows that your work is appreciated, that it inspires people. It's like kids putting cool pictures on a bulletin board for everyone to see and appreciate. If anything, your blog will get more traffice than it would without Pinterest. I find your quilts to be inspiring and interesting. Without sites like Pinterest, you won't reach as many people who share your passion.
Finally, regarding bookmarking, which several people have mentioned as an alternative to Pinterest. Pinterest is actually a bookmarking site, nothing more, nothing less. It makes a list of links exactly like any other bookmarking program. It's just the interface that is different: the visual representation of the bookmark is a single image from the site, rather than the site's URL. Each Pinterest board contains, basically, a list of URLs.
Me too! I could not believe so many of my quilts were on Pinterest...and I too have not given permission for anyone to take them!
ReplyDeleteI do not belong to pintrest. It has zero integrity. I closed- made my blog private for a while , pre pintrest, because my ideas were being stolen by "professional quilters". I opened my blog back up but put all my posts as drafts so they cannot be seen. Back in 2007 when I started blogging I thought there was some anonymity. I found out I was incorrect.
ReplyDelete