I didn’t get it at first.

It’s just a site where people post stuff they like, right?

But several Facebook friends had status updates to the tune of, “I’m so addicted to Pinterest! It’s so awesome!”

Of course I had to check it out.

But first you have to request an invitation. Then wait for the invitation. Then follow the link and register your account -- I recommend doing this through your Facebook account (they provide that option) as you will automatically follow all your Facebook friends who are also on Pinterest.

It’s nice not to start out at zero.

Then you select a few of your basic interests (such as “fitness” or “food” or “pets”) and the fine folks at Pinterest set you up following some other people who post cool things related to those interests (you can unfollow these people if you want, but it’s kind of cool).

The posts are called “pins” -- hence the name. You pin your interests to virtual bulletin boards, which then get shared with other users.

And you can check out people’s pins who you don’t follow based on the category -- for instance, you can search for “Crafts/DIY” and pins from all over the site will pop up that fit into that category.

It’s an amazing way to discover things that would normally take hours to hunt down the old fashioned way online because it allows you to narrow your focus while still getting results from all over the web.

The simplicity of Pinterest is really where genius lies. After several hours of browsing and repinning fun and funky items my friends had pinned (you can share everything from blogs to recipes to pictures of your dream home), I thought “Why didn’t I think of this?”

I’m constantly coming across things on the internet that I immediately fall in love with. I bookmark said things and then promptly forget about them.

The Pinterest method is similar -- you install a “Pin it” button to your toolbar and whenever you’re on a site and see something you like, you just hit the button. You’ll be prompted about which board to pin it to and then all of your friends can see the cool thing you just saw. And you’ll be able to find it again.

Instead of a boring old bookmark list, Pinterest arranges all my favorite items on handy boards with pretty pictures in one centralized location.

So if I’m looking for that one recipe I came across two months ago that I know I saved somewhere on the computer, I no longer have to click on every potential bookmark. I just go to Pinterst and there it is, handily pinned to my “Yummy!” board. How easy (and fun!) is that?

It’s safe to say, after my less-than-24-hours of being an active member on Pinterest, I get it now.