Category: Internet and web

Pinterest: My blind spot

pinterest-pinboard-600I just don’t get Pinterest.

Maybe I haven’t given it a fair shake.

No. Scratch that. I know I haven’t given it a fair shake. I don’t know why, either.

I’m not a Pinterest hater. I don’t want to be like those Twitter haters who say, “I don’t want to tweet about what I’m having for lunch. Who cares?” (The Pinterest equivalent: “Who cares if I pin my recipe for spinach enchiladas?”) I know — intellectually, at least — that there’s more to Pinterest than recipe exchanges, just as there’s more to Twitter than discussing lunch.

But I haven’t taken the Pinterest plunge.

Maybe it has to do with timing. Pinterest arrived on the scene at about the same time as a bad case of social media overload. It happened right about the same time I decided to create a Quora account. (Which is something that makes even less sense to me than Pinterest.) Part of me doesn’t want to wade into yet another social media environment that I don’t have time for.

I get that Pinterest is a valid social media environment, and that colleges and universities are using it as another way to connect with audiences. And according to this post, I shouldn’t overlook its value as a marketing tool.

So maybe it’s time to give Pinterest another look. (I do have a Pinterest account of my very own. But as you’ll discover if you click the link, there’s nothing to see there.)

Maybe you Pinterest fans can convince me in the comments.

Missouri S&T is hiring for our web team

We’re building up our web team at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) for some exciting things in the future.

Embed from Getty Images

We’re hiring two positions focused on web, digital communications and social media to double our dedicated online/web staff to four. (That may not sound like a lot, but members of our web team work in a highly collaborative environment with other communications pros — writers and editors, graphic designers, videographers, a photographer — and work closely with members of our IT staff. So there’s a lot of talent working together to make great things happen.)

If you’re looking for an opportunity to help reinvent our web presence for an adaptive, responsive future, these two positions offer great opportunities for the right people. Plus, you’ll be joining a fun and award-winning communications team.

We’re looking for:

  • One User Interface Designer to bridge the back-end work of our web developer to the outside world. We’re looking for someone who can see the online world through the user’s eyes and visualize and create that smart and beautiful interface. If you have experience designing simple and intuitive user interfaces and the ability to effectively communicate conceptual ideas and design rationale, this is the job for you.
  • One Digital Communications Coordinator to create web content for our top-level sites and help other units across campus create compelling content. If you love creating web content, breathing life and personality into existing content, and think editing makes everything better, then this may be the job for you. This new position will write, create, edit and maintain content on university websites and social media outlets.

Deadline to apply is March 18, so get your resumes and applications in post haste, or pass along the news to your contacts who might be interested. As always, feel free to reach out to me (acareaga AT mst DOT edu) if you have questions.

More about Missouri S&T