There are 2 Pinterest characters to use while adding images to your pinboards. Pinterest characters can improve communication and increase searchability. The first character is the @, or “at symbol”. The second Pinterest character is the #, or “hashtag”. Both characters are used in a manner similar to their usage on Facebook and Twitter.
@ (at symbol)
The “at symbol” is used to communicate directly with someone. The @(+username) is typed in the text description area of a new pin or repin and causes the user to receive a notification. It also can be used in the comment area below a pin. Currently, you do not have to be following the user or any of their boards to communicate with them this way. This was not always the case. The notification that you sent a comment will show up in the user’s notifications. It will also trigger an email to the user if the user has email notifications enabled. To read the actual content of the comment, the user has to go to the pin to read your note.
To leave a user a note with the @ symbol, just type in “@” and then their Pinterest account name with no space between the @ and the name. For example, to leave me a note, you would type “@pintalk” into the contents of the note, it doesn’t matter where. The beginning, middle or end all work. Please see the example below where I am leaving a note to another user, named “metrony”.
The @ symbol only works in 2 areas, the text description and in the comments area.
# (hash tag)
The hashtag is used to make a term searchable. It can be used in the pin description or the comment area. Hashtags do not work in your bio description or board description. Hashtags are public. Anyone can find your pin or board when searching for your hashtag term. Thus it is a good way to get more followers. Type a word or phrase in the Pinterest search box. The search results page will return boards and pins with your search term as hashtags. You can then click on any hashtag and search for more pins that contain your search term. (http://pinterest.com/search/?q=socialmedia)
In all of the examples below, I use the hashtag term “socialmedia” as my example.
Hashtags do not work in your bio description or board description. The examples below do not work as clickable hashtags.
