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The big news of the week is that Pinterest is apparently monetizing links without disclosing the practice to users. I was going to write a post about why I’m ok with that, but Allison at BlogWorld already wrote basically the exact thing I was going to write so I’ll save myself the trouble and just link to her post. In short–Pinterest making money in a way that costs me nothing? Have at it…but a little transparency and disclosure would serve you well in the long run.
Then again, maybe not–god knows Facebook doesn’t do it and it doesn’t seem to be hurting them any. Path, the darling of social media people, isn’t doing it and I doubt their users will be deserting them en masse upon learning about the breach. Mining data is common practice for social networks and people are ok with that–why should we not be ok with Pinterest doing nothing but making a buck where there’s a buck to be made? I’d much rather Pinterest’s method of monetization over stealing and selling my personal data. If I’m too lazy to add affiliate links–which I 100% am–Pinterest is welcome to take the time to modify my with their affiliate info.
(Photo by AaronPatterson on Flickr)
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