On a Mia Voss Hangout On Air (HOA) around the first of the year, the general consensus among those present was that 2014 was going to be the Year of Collaboration. We talked, not just on how many of us were working together on projects, but on the proliferation of tools like Google+ and Hangouts which were making networking and working together easier and easier.
You see, people have always enjoyed collaborating on projects. Find a person who has a skillset that you don’t possess, but which complements those skills you do have, and come up with and idea to work on something that is bigger than anything you might have accomplished working alone.
Like when Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam collaborated on a new album as Temple of the Dog, creating this incredibly powerful grunge rock ballad Hunger Strike.
That was 1991. Fast forward two and a half decades and collaboration is even more prolific. Instead of having to hop on a plane to Seattle to work on something, you and I can simply jump on a Hangout and have a chat about our project. We can share screens, see and hear each other real-time, and even bring in other collaborators.
So when Pinterest announced that they were expanding Send Pin to include more advanced messaging and pinning, The State of Collaboration just took another step forward.
Sending Pins has been a function within Pinterest for a while now. However, it’s always been a one-way feature. You could send me a pin that you thought I would be interested in, but all I would get is a notification and a link to the original pin that you found. You couldn’t include any information to give the pin context, and I couldn’t even reply to let you know I got it, not to mention letting you know what I thought about it.
With the new Pinterest Messaging, all of that has changed.
Now, when you send me a pin, you can include text to describe the pin or why you’re sending it to me. And when I get it, I can reply or even send a Pin back to you.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY8g1tLeMZ8
When working with and collaborating on projects, it’s incredibly useful to be able to send pins back and forth, pinning them to appropriate boards or even group boards (or even Secret Boards!).
And Pinterest Messaging also supports sending pins to multiple people and having conversations on the platform.
Businesses and clients can share inspiring pins back and forth to discuss and guide a project.
Bloggers can work together on articles, sending pins and infographs back me and forth while they flush out a topic.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Who’s to say what other fantastic uses you’ll find for sending pins back and forth.
But wait, there’s more.
What if, instead of just one pin, you sent an entire Board of pins to a collaborator. You could map out an entire project and then share that with your partner to review and add to.
The updated Pinterest app is available now on iOS or Android. Once updated, your notifications pane now sports a slider at the top to differentiate between normal notifications (which are now larger), and private messages from one person or a group.
Just like Hangouts, these can be perpetual conversations between you and others. This is potentially a game-changing feature, and an incredible step up for Pinterest. What was originally essential a social bookmarking service, Pinterest is now a major player in the true social networking space.
If you aren’t already, be sure to follow me on Pinterest, and tune in to the next Manly Pinterest Tips Show with Jeff Sieh.