From Textbook Theory to My Shopping Cart: Unpacking Pinterest's Marketing Power

    Do you use Pinterest often? In South Korea, it hasn't gained the same level of popularity as Instagram. While I’m a Pinterest user, I knew almost nothing about social media marketing on Pinterest. That's why I felt this chapter was interesting. According to Chapter 8 of textbook, the best times to post on Pinterest are Tuesdays through Fridays at 1 a.m. Even more surprising, the best days to post are weekdays, while the worst are weekends. Isn't that wild? I always assumed people used social media more often on the weekends when they had time to relax, but that is definitely not the case for Pinterest! After reading this, I realized that I usually use Pinterest around 2 a.m. on a weekday. How strange is that?

    How do you use Pinterest? I used to use it mainly for visual inspiration: browsing nail design photos (often called “nail inspo”), looking at different outfit photos to decide what to wear the next day (searching for “OOTD” or “fall outfit”), or downloading phone wallpapers. But recently, I've started using Pinterest differently: to search for products I want to buy.

    Recently, the weather in Ohio became colder, so I wanted to buy a coat. (Although it's too cold for just a coat now!) I searched for “coat outfit” on Pinterest and checked out various outfit pins from lots of users. A key feature of Pinterest is that when you click on a pin and scroll down, it offers similar, related photos. This process inspired me to search for a gray balmacaan coat, and my shopping journey continued from there.

    One of the Pinterest's big advantages is that if a pin has a product link, users can click the Visit Site button to go directly to the purchasing website. Another benefit is the comment section. If an ordinary user uploads a pin without a product link, other users often leave comments asking for the link or brand information. These features make Pinterest an extremely valuable tool for social media marketing.

    Through these features, I successfully found the coat I wanted most, only to discover it was already discontinued. In addition, the Ohio weather has gotten too cold to wear it anyway! Despite that, I still love these features. The consumer described in Chapter 8—who uses Pinterest to transition from inspiration to conversion—was me all along! 

Roller Coasters and Real Scares: My Unexpected Fall Break in Cincinnati

    How did you spend your fall break? A family dinner? Maybe an overseas trip? I spent mine on a three-day trip to Cincinnati, Ohio, organized by the Office of International Service. My original plan was to visit Chicago with friends, but I couldn't because of some reasons. However, I heard that the Office of International Service was offering a low-cost trip for international students and their Polar Pals. So I signed up just two days before the deadline. To be honest, I wasn't highly anticipating the Cincinnati trip because I had been looking forward to a free-and-easy solo trip to Chicago. But since I was going with close friends, I packed my bags with the relaxed goal of just making memories with them.

    Contrary to my low expectations, the Cincinnati trip was truly fun! The most memorable and exciting day of the three-day journey was definitely the first day, which we spent at Kings Island amusement park. Are you a fan of huge roller coasters? I’m a huge coaster person; in South Korea, I always seek out the major coasters, even if I should wait for them up to three hours. At Kings Island, there were three to four major coasters, and they were all thrilling with reasonable waiting times. My favorites were Orion and The Beast.

    Orion was the first ride we took right after arriving. I felt its ride duration was much longer than Korean roller coasters, which average about one minute of ride time, and it felt much more dynamic. The Beast was the last ride we took at 10 p.m. It’s the favorite coaster of my friend who has a season pass to Kings Island. The Beast gave two major thrills during its incredibly long four-and-a-half-minute ride time. Because it is a wooden coaster, the whole structure seemed to shake as the ride sped up, making it feel even more thrilling!

 

    My visit on Oct. 12 coincided with the park’s special Halloween event. Since Halloween isn't celebrated as intensely in Korea as it is in the U.S., I knew almost nothing about American Halloween culture. But I quickly realized that Americans are truly serious about the holiday! Starting at 6 p.m., a Halloween parade began, and thick fog rolled across the park. In addition, people in scary costumes started roaming around, intentionally startling guests. As someone who intensely dislikes watching horror movies, I found the atmosphere genuinely frightening. My friends, however, actively enjoyed the horror atmosphere and even visited three haunted houses. I reluctantly followed them, squeezing my eyes shut the whole time until we safely exited.

    Despite feeling overwhelmed by the scary, unfamiliar Halloween atmosphere, I was thoroughly satisfied with Kings Island overall. The variety of intense roller coasters was the main highlight, and I am so excited that I’m already planning to visit Cedar Point with my friends in two weeks. I hope all of you also had a fun fall break like mine!