Pinterest Surpasses Google+, LinkedIn

Keeping track of favorite products has never been easier thanks to Pinterest, as the site is now one of the most popular in the U.S.

Pinterest racked up 104 million visits in March, putting it in third place for most popular social media site behind Facebook and Twitter, according to an Experian report. Pinterest's a unique approach to social networking allows users to create an online scrapbook of favorite images from the Web and "pin" them on a virtual cork board.

The site capitalizes on visual interest by making it easy for users to keep track of ideas, inspiration or future purchases. It's a social media site without text-heavy feeds, or a slew of sarcastic Internet memes. That setup may have helped Pinterest by appealing to users who avoid other forms of social media while remaining accessible to a wide audience.

The ranking puts Pinterest ahead of other social media sites with a more established reputation, like LinkedIn, Google+ and Tumblr. The popularity is partly due to its niche appeal -- almost 60 percent of users are female, and 55 percent are between the ages of 25 and 44. Regionally, Pinterest attracts users who may shy away from heavy use on other sites, as traffic in states like Missouri, Utah, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa was two to three times those states' audience for other social networks.

The purpose of Pinterest isn't to share constant updates about what you're doing. Rather, the site is fueled by hobbies and interests. The site allows for a personal collection without being too revealing, a comforting notion when social media privacy rules and safeguards are often questionable, or legal probes alarming.

But there is an interaction element, as Pinterest users can follow friends' pins, as well as search for others. With a heavy emphasis on cooking, crafts, decor and fashion, Pinterest introduces a purposeful element to social media, with ways to get inspired for new crafts or plan a wedding.

The next step for Pinterest is generating revenue from its growing user base and rapid expansion. The site experimented with generating affiliate revenue via links from Pinterest to various retailers' products, but the attempt drew an uproar, and the site has yet to articulate a cohesive profit strategy.

In very little time, Pinterest came out of nowhere and was immensely successful, becoming the hottest online start-up since Facebook or YouTube. Now the site is in place to make millions, while giving users a new online platform to express themselves in a new way.

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