Pinterest Can Monetize My Links All They Want

The big news of the week is that Pinterest is apparently monetizing links without disclosing the practice to users. I was going to write a post about why I'm ok with that, but Allison at BlogWorld already wrote basically the exact thing I was going to write so I'll save myself the trouble and just link to her post. In short--Pinterest making money in a way that costs me nothing? Have at it...but a little transparency and disclosure would serve you well in the long run.

Then again, maybe not--god knows Facebook doesn't do it and it doesn't seem to be hurting them any. Path, the darling of social media people, isn't doing it and I doubt their users will be deserting them en masse upon learning about the breach. Mining data is common practice for social networks and people are ok with that--why should we not be ok with Pinterest doing nothing but making a buck where there's a buck to be made? I'd much rather Pinterest's method of monetization over stealing and selling my personal data. If I'm too lazy to add affiliate links--which I 100% am--Pinterest is welcome to take the time to modify my with their affiliate info.