Pinterest is the newest phenomenon shocking the world and invading the computers on Nicholls campus.

Pinterest is a personal online pin board that allows users to organize and share interesting content found on the web. The content is called a pin that is organized in boards where people can display them.

People can ‘like’ their friends pins and re-pin them. When pins are re-pinned, more people get access to them. It is similar to Twitter in that people can follow each other.

People have to be invited by existing members to have their own Pinterest board. Pinterest is the fastest website to hit 11 million users.

Tom Bonvillain, director of instructional technology support, thinks that Pinterest is a clever site that interests many people.

“I am seeing a lot of students coming to the computer lab and getting on Pinterest,” Bonvillain said.

Bonvillain explained that the simplicity of the site and the possibilities of what somebody can pin on their board are endless. It is what interests people.

“Businesses and companies are using Pinterest to buy and sell things to people,” Bonvillain said. “This is driving a lot of the interest in it right now.”

Katie Hymel, freshman from Destrehan, uses Pinterest to get ideas for recipes.

“I like to find decorations for ideas for a party,” Hymel said. “I also like it because I can look at other people’s ideas that they have, and I can share my ideas.”

Pinterest’s audience is mostly female, and some women use it for interior design, wedding ideas and fashion tips.

Bonvillain’s own daughter is using Pinterest to plan her wedding.

Sarah Hartman, art senior from Raceland, said that she loves it and uses it to get art ideas.

“I use it for inspiration for my art projects at school,” Hartman said. “I believe that it is better than StumbleUpon, where you don’t have to go directly to the website, and you can see a picture for it. It is more visual.”

Bonvillain stated that Pinterest can be used for educational purposes.

“A teacher can do some interesting things with it, like a marketing class,” Bonvillain said. “Teachers can use it as a basis for a discussion board where students can put up visual ideas where they can have discussions about it.”

Bonvillain warns students that they should stop themselves from obsessing over Pinterest like with other websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

“Students can waste a lot of good time away on this,” Bonvillain said. “I understand that students need to waste time, but there is always a limit to everything.”

Bonvillain does not have a Pinterest, but he thinks it is a very interesting concept.

“There is no limit to it and that is why people love it so much,” Bonvillain said.