Pinterest recently saw a huge traffic boom. And for a reason. It has become a very addictive and fun way to share things you love, and follow collections created by other people. We can pretty much say that Pinterest is the new social site where people unite to share their interests. What makes it so popular and unique?

The simple question on how it became one lies between simplicity and a great idea. There is nothing easier than using bookmarklet to pin resources on your pinboard. Not only does it help you to share things with your friends, it also serves as a bookcase (kind of) where you can store all your ideas and projects in case you forget. Of course, there are a whole lot more ways to use Pinterest to manage things you find around the web.

1. A brief history

The development of Pinterest oficially began in December, 2009. While it took 2 years before it reached its true potential, Pinterest remains the fastest site in history to break through the 10 million unique visitor mark. Currently Pinterest is managed by Cold Brew Labs, a team based in Palo Alto, California.

2. Alexa rank over time

Pinterest striked most of us quickly and by surprise. How quickly? Like a lightning bolt. Below you’ll see a chart from Alexa showing the growth of this social bookmarking site. Starting from around the new year, a dramatic increase in reach can be seen.

A reach of 2 percent means that for every 100 internet users, 2 of them are using Pinterest

3. Where is Pinterest between all the social giants?

We all know Facebook, Twitter, Google +, LinkedIn and other popular social networks. But where does Pinterest stand between them? While still in its infancy, Pinterest is going to grow at increased rate, no doubt. The following months is where it will accelerate and attract more users. Although it is too early to determine how Pinterest will turn out, it has already made its point of being useful in many ways. Furthermore, Alexa rank shows that Pinterest is currently ranked 16th in US – a huge accomplishment in little time. This is already an indicator that Pinterest is as useful as other social networks.

4. Most of Pinterest users are female

Hard to believe, but hey, it’s Google! They say that over two thirds of users are female, and they are probably right. For the most part, women use Pinterest to share fashion related things. Of course, there are many other topics involved, but fashion seems to be used all the time.

Women Usually Pin Fashion Related Content

5. Current number of users

As of the time of writing this post, Pinterest has “only” 15 million users. While it is too early to tell whether users will be in tenths or hundreds of millions this year, many agree that millions sound more plausible.

Pinterest recently had a huge traffic spike

6. Take the action now

The surprising truth is that only few companies have made their account on Pinterest. This is a perfect time for you to gain a momentum over other competitors. This is the moment where many people are still uncertain about what will happen during this year. Although most of us realize that Pinterest is going to be huge this year, many are still living under the rock.

Register now and start pinning!

7. Mark Zuckerberg has his own account

Surprisingly, even the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg decided to join the internet’s fastest growing social network. Although he may not be considered very active there, the main reason he joined is still unclear. Maybe he joined to look for the new potential competition or maybe to implement some ideas to Facebook – nobody knows exactly but himself.

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