I’m trying to get into Pinterest. It’s difficult, though, because I have too many other social media channels to focus on. I know it’s a valuable application, and I should put more effort into it.

In fact, let’s take a look at what researchers from Georgia Tech and the University of Minnesota found out about the site in a recent study:

1.    Female users have more re-pins, regardless of geographical location.
2.    Men typically have more followers on Pinterest than women.
3.    Four verbs set Pinterest apart from Twitter: “use,” “look,” “want” and “need.”

“Those four verbs uniquely describe Pinterest and are particularly interesting,” said Georgia Tech assistant professor Eric Gilbert, who runs the Comp.Social Lab. “Words encapsulate the intent of people, revealing the motivations behind their actions. You can use the word ‘this’ after all of these verbs, reflecting the ‘things’ at the core of Pinterest. Many press articles have focused on Pinterest’s commercial potential, and here we see verbs illustrating that consumption truly lies at the heart of the site.”

The researchers examined more than 200,000 pins.

“We wanted to take a closer look at Pinterest because of its differences compared to other social media, including its focus on pictures and products and the large proportion of women users,” said University of Minnesota professor Loren Terveen, a co-author of the study. “These findings are an important early snapshot of Pinterest that help us begin to understand people’s activity on this site.”

The researchers say that understanding motivations behind Pinterest is beneficial for businesses that want to use the site for marketing.

“There are several social networking sites that marketers and advertisers can take advantage of these days,” Gilbert said. “After conducting this research, if I had to choose where to put my money and marketing, Pinterest would probably be my first choice.”

(Story materials via Georgia Tech.)