If the words “dudes” and “chicks” offend you, simply replace dudes with “men” and chicks with “women.”

I like to think I’m “the first dude on Pinterest” but that’s probably not true, but it certainly felt like it when I first started using it. Like Google+ being a sausage fest of dudes posting animated gifs, it seemed like Pinterest was just a virtual pinboard for chicks to post links of stuff they wanted to buy or which angle of Ryan Gosling they liked. However, I did see some value to it as a guy.

I first tried using Pinterest like a chick and attempted to find links of things I wanted to buy, but it did not interest me. I decided to try to take the approach of how I used to use real pin boards. Back in my high school art days I kept physical pinboards of inspiration, places I’ve visited, etc. This isn’t to say a chick can’t use a pinboard like this, but it is certainly a more approachable way for a dude to use it.

How I (a dude) use Pinterest

Finding Inspiration

Tumblr is still a site I use for inspiration, but I now use it to look at photos of tattoos and cats, which is great. I like the idea of curated inspiration in Pinterest and it’s my first tool used to look for compelling items/products.

Get a Feminine Touch (Not like that)

To be completely honest, dudes should use Pinterest because there are a lot of chicks on it. I use Pinterest to really seek advice from chicks on trendy items, things they like about dudes, etc. It’s a great way to get new perspective.

Organization

I’m not the most organized person in terms of my personal life. Instead of using physical lists or a program like Evernote, I decided to create a pinboard to keep a list of items I wanted to get for my apartment. The beauty of Pinterest is I have the URLs already saved, so I can puchase them.

One thing Pinterest certainly is not is a dating site. As much as I wish it and Etsy was sometimes, Creep Responsibly, gentlemen. Dudes, get on Pinterest and follow me.