It's not enough that Pinterest's traffic has grown 40-fold in 2011's last six months — now it's so irresistible even the U.S. Army has succumbed to the fast-growing addiction, with 24 boards and 580 pins ranging from basic training and soldiers to families, fashion and chow.
Showing that it's not just a man's army, or that only women enjoy Pinterest (despite figures that show women make up 97 percent of Pinterest's Facebook "likes"), the Army has amassed thousands of followers browsing boards labeled, "HOOAH!" "DIY & Decor" and "Good Morale."
Quoting from Wikipedia, the HOOAH! page defines the term: "Hooah ... is a U.S. Army battle cry used by soldiers and also in use by the U.S. Air Force airmen 'referring to or meaning anything and everything except no.' "
On this page, images of soldiers in action are found alongside Army versus Navy posters. On other pages, family homecoming photos and pictures of patriotic recipes adorn boards.
The U.S. Army's Pinterest also pins most recent news stories, videos and photos (via the U.S. Army's Office of the Chief of Public Affairs). It offers as a disclaimer: "Repinning does not equal endorsement."
Pinterest allows users to share images and thoughts and add to Facebook "likes" as well as spread the joy via tweet. According to AppData, Pinterest has about 10.4 million registered members, with an average of 2 million daily users..
Other armed forces are on Pinterest, but aren't as robust as the Army's boards. In this battle, Army does beat Navy, which has only 12 boards and 140 pins. While most of the Navy's boards have followers that number in the hundreds, the Army's boards have 1,000-plus followers each.
The U.S. Marine Corps is also on Pinterest, and while it only has 16 boards and 201 pins, it does have some eye-catching titles: "Things that go BOOM!" "Semper Awesome" and "Devil Pup Swag," for instance.
The U.S. Air Force's Pinterest seems to be the only armed force that hasn't earned its pinning wings, with zero boards.
More stories:
- How to use Pinterest: A step-by-step guide
- Pinterest: Where domestic divas hang out online
- How Pinterest Is Becoming the Next Big Thing in Social Media for Business
On Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.