Like some engaged couples, senior Haley McClure and her fiancé are busy planning their upcoming wedding, but instead of reading through wedding magazines, McClure is gathering unique ceremony ideas from the website Pinterest.

Pinterest, a website which allows users to create virtual pin-boards of anything they are interested in, emerged on the social media scene in 2010.

Common pinboard themes include weddings, current fashion trends, do-it-yourself projects, class lesson plans and recipes, according to the website.

McClure said she likes to pin from the wide variety of topics users upload themselves or repin from other users.

“I like that it’s a creative space,” McClure said. “It’s an open forum for people to share their ideas.”

Pinterest’s users are mostly women, something McClure likes about the website.

“A lot of other [online] spaces such as Reddit are male-dominated,” she said. “Pinterest is a place for women to claim a space that’s their own, free of judgement.”

Anna O’Brien, graduate student and instructor of Popular Culture, is including some aspects of Pinterest in her thesis, including its popularity among young women.

O’Brien said she thinks some reasons the website has gained popularity is due to its ease of use and visually appealing layout.

“You can be looking at images a lot faster than reading through a blog,” she said. “And it’s easier to just pin something rather than download information.”

Pinterest also gives users the option of anonymity, which may be another attractive factor to the site, O’Brien said.

While the website allows users to link their Pinterest profiles to their Twitter or Facebook profiles, many don’t, opting, instead, to keep their creativity to themselves, she said.

“There’s a desire to keep ideas to yourself until you’re ready to share them [with others],” O’Brien said.

Pinterest’s popularity may also be due to the recession, said Becca Cragin, assistant professor in Popular Culture.

“People are really reinvested in the home, redecorating and spending more time in the home. In the past it was seen as frivolous, but people are now appreciating its value,” she said.

Cragin said the do-it-yourself tutorials that are popular on Pinterest are low-cost entertainment for cash-strapped users.

“It’s much cheaper and worthwhile to make your own craft or painting or sculpture,” she said.

Pinterest has gained momentum by “electronic word of mouth,” where users tell their friends about the website and share pins that are interesting to them, she said.

“People like to pass each other things online,” Cragin said. “They say to their friends, ‘oh my God, look at this crazy photo.’”

Senior Katie Reimund said she created a Pinterest account for that same reason.

Reimund said her favorite things to pin include inspirational or funny quotes and pictures that she can share with those close to her.

“I think it’s something new and different for people who are tired of Facebook,” she said. “It’s also great to use to procrastinate from doing your homework.”