The latest social network to gain serious traction managed to establish a rabid following through a demographic group that has been frequently viewed as more resistant to new approaches to online interaction: women.

Pinterest has therefore been portrayed as an unlikely outlet to nurture enthusiasm — even though its encouragement of the categorization of images is predominantly being seen as an ideal method to encourage browsing for products. Just like the majority of retail outlets are designed for female tastes, a user-generated website was due to follow, especially one built to encourage transactions.

Whether or not the gender imbalance is reduced, and regardless of whether it continues its exponential growth, the evolution of Pinterest sheds light on how there can be a marked difference in how the sexes are effectively reached online. Distinct information, e-commerce and gaming websites for women have succeeded with approaches that were distinct from the overriding tone of the web.

Personal blogs by women raising young children, for example, grew into a marketable industry even as the medium generally lost ground. Will there be a similar stickiness to the image-based bookmarking site compared to casualties like Delicious or Digg?

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