Well what do you know… it seems the ladies not only like Pinterest … they trust posts on Pinterest too

According to BlogHer’s annual study on women and social media, when asked whether they trusted different social media sources, 81 percent of women representing the general U.S. population said they trusted blogs and Pinterest, while 67 percent said they trusted Facebook and 73 percent said they trusted Twitter. (The questions were asked of those who indicated that they used each of the social media services.)

We’ve heard for the last several months that women like Pinterest – that the majority of users are ladies. According to my good friend Beth Becker who has become the unofficial Pinterest expert the site is used primarily women in the midwest and southeast. (Actually Beth mentioned this in passing not at the link but… still read the above link)

Interestingly, Pinterest is also becoming more powerful than the Twitter when it comes to referral traffic:

A new study by online sharing tool Shareaholic has found that Pinterest now drives more referral traffic than Twitter.

Check out this graph – it’s even bigger than Google+. Eeek! Embarrassing!

But the plot thickens!

Among the sample representative of the U.S. population, 77 percent said they use Facebook purely for fun and 87 percent use it to stay updated on family. Just 17 percent said they use it for purchase decisions—compared to 36 percent who turn to blogs for that reason—and 24 percent said they use Facebook to get product recommendations, as opposed to 41 percent who read blogs.

The study also compared Twitter and Pinterest, revealing that the newest tech darling already rivals (if not exceeds) the social media giant when it comes to relevance. When asked about the social media service most appropriate for making purchase decisions, 21 percent said Twitter, versus 18 percent who said Pinterest. But Pinterest topped Twitter for getting product information (26 percent vs. 18 percent), finding out about new products (39 percent vs. 24 percent) and seeking advice and recommendations (30 percent vs. 29 percent).

And via the MRSS blog (that has lots of great juicy info on Pinterest)

Noland Hoshino also has a great post that gives a basic introduction to Pinterest, explains why it’s relevant, and gives 12 tips for getting started. (Speaking of Noland Hoshino – he’s a bit of a leader on this platform – you should make sure to get your organization on his board Nonprofits on Pinterest.)

And the best of the best – a contest announced this weekend on Remodelista (a blog I frequently read). In all of their brilliance – contestants have to follow Remodelista’s Pinboards, start a pinboard that chooses a specific color, pin at least 3 pieces from their blog, and at least 17 others – and name your blog about the color contest. What a genius strategy for not only getting people to follow your pinboards, but now you’re getting people to pin posts from the blog. So… yes.. I entered using hot pink as my color – not merely because I’m a Pink (like the singer) fan, but I really believe you can like hot pink without it being super feminine and flowery. Pink can be edgy and alternative, but its all in how you play it….

See a fancy info graphic on the flip… Happy pinning!