Is Pinterest Too Girly?

Pinterest is now the third largest social network, after Facebook and Twitter, and has over 20 million users. According to a February survey by Visual.ly, 83% of them are women. As a result, it’s not surprising that much of the virtual pinboard’s content is female-centric.

This trend has led to the creation of a number of Pinterest copycats that are geared toward the male demographic. On these sites—which include Dudepins, Manteresting, PunchPin, Gentlemint, and Dartitup—you are more likely to find posts, or “pins,” of bacon donuts and bachelor pads than crafts and wedding dresses. But Gawker’s Adrian Chen questions the need for “these sad virtual man caves."



In a recent article he wrote, “Men: You can do all this on Pinterest, with the added benefit of not appearing so insecure with your masculinity that you fear just creating a profile on a social network that's largely female will cause breasts to sprout on your chest and lust for expensive thigh-high leather riding boots to fill your heart. And, anyway, you probably already are on a female-dominated social network: 62% of Facebook activity is driven by women. Get over yourselves, dudes. Maybe you'll even learn a little about closet organizing.”

Interestingly, according a recent Mashable slide show featuring some of the most-followed men on Pinterest, 10 out of the top 45 Pinterest users are men. Also, according to Visual.ly, 56% of Pinterest users in the UK are men. Maybe in time Pinterest will shed its reputation as a female-centric site.

What do you think SodaHeads? Is Pinterest too "girly"?