Pinterest is a pinboard-style photo-sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, and hobbies. Users can browse other pinboards for images, “re-pin” images to their own pinboards, or “like” photos. The site was founded by Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra and Evan Sharp. It is managed by Cold Brew Labs and funded by a small group of entrepreneurs and investors.
Pinterest allows users to save images and categorize them on different boards. They can follow other users’ boards if they have similar tastes. The most popular categories, as of March 2012, were home, arts and crafts, style/fashion, and food.
Development of Pinterest began in December 2009, and the site launched as a closed beta in March 2010. The site proceeded to operate in invitation-only open beta. Early in 2010, the company’s investors and co-founder Ben Silbermann tried to encourage a New York-based magazine publishing company to buy Pinterest but the publisher declined to meet with the founders.
The launch of an iPhone app in early March 2011, brought in a more than expected number of downloads. On 16 August 2011, Time magazine listed Pinterest in its “50 Best Websites of 2011” article.