As any avid Pinterest user will tell you, it’s a bit of a rush when one of your pins get a few repins. I remember the day I had a pin reach over 250 repins! I was telling my parents, I was bragging to my friends, I was trying to explain to my boyfriend he should care… Basically, I was really excited. To this day, I have a special place in my heart for that chicken tortilla soup recipe.
Now, just imagine the excitement Mandy Wakemen must have felt when her ooey-gooey, cheese-and-carb-filled pin went viral.
Yep, you read that right. Mandy, who has a pretty hefty 7,000 followers, garnered 104 THOUSAND repins, 202 comments and 14 thousand likes for this one pin! Even Dan, with his million followers, hasn’t (yet!) managed to have a pin be that viral. By all accounts, this pins is a hit.
So what gives? Although she does have a steady following, this one pin has produced the vast majority of the 106,000 total repins from her profile. The pin has also made Mandy’s “MAKE THIS SOON” board far and away the most viral, most followed, and (obviously) the most repinned of her boards, as shown on this screen shot from PinLeague’s free Pinterest analytics dashboard:
And while this pin’s explosion of virality is extremely rare, it’s not at all rare for recipe pins to blow up on Pinterest. If fact, when I analyzed 1,000 of the most repinned pins a staggering 44% of the pins were recipes. Pinterest has also made their love of recipe sharing obvious with their recent implementation of rich recipe pins, which allows recipe sites to share their delicacies faster and easier. And, while it’s obviously no secret that Pinterest is a great place to find delicious recipes, the psychology behind it might be a bit surprising.
Why Did This Pin Become So Popular? Basically, It’s Because Pinterest is Aspirational in Nature.
Unlike Facebook, Twitter, and a multitude of other social media networks, people flock to Pinterest to build their dream life. And, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. How many people can you think of right now that have a “Dream Wedding” board, a “Perfect Home” board or a “Get Fit” board? I bet there are quite a few that come to mind. Because Pinterest has become a search engine for the perfect life, it’s really not too surprising that a pin showcasing both beautiful photography and deliciously cheesy carbs has taken the top spot. Because from the assortment of amazing foods to make for your friends, to the workouts guaranteed to turn you into a runway model, Pinterest is about helping you become who you want to be.
And, in the end, that’s really what keeps us coming back.