Photo-Sharing Site Pinterest Draws Political Interest

Pinterest, a photo-sharing service that allows users to create and manage image collections of hobbies and events ranging from tasty recipes to wedding planning, is becoming the “next big hot thing” for political campaigns, USA Today reported, with both the Romney and Obama campaigns posting photographs, recipes, and interests on the popular social media site.

In politics, “it's always the next big hot thing," Zac Moffatt, digital director for Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign told USA Today when asked about Pinterest. "And it's kind of hot right now."

The Obama campaign has boards on Pinterest featuring recipes, "Pet Lovers for Obama," and "Joe Biden on the Road."

Ann Romney, the Republican nominee’s wife, has boards with recipes, "Campaign," "Patriotic," "Things I Love," and other topics.

In January, there was no political presence on the site, Beth Becker, a digital media consultant, told USA Today. Now the site is populated by not only political campaigns but advocacy groups and think tanks such as Center for American Progress, the Heritage Foundation, and the AFL-CIO.

"The demographics definitely make it attractive, " Patrick Bell, director of new media for the House Republican Conference, told USA Today. "People are spending a lot of time there. Wherever the fish are, that's where we're going to fish."

The number of people using Pinterest has jumped from 11.7 million unique users in January to 18.7 million in March, according to USA Today, and most of them are women.