Avoiding Viruses and Spam Via Pinterest

If you have followed my blog at all, or eaten anything I have made or seen any of my DIY crafts, it's no secret I am Pinterest's number one fan. But it's not always peaches and cream. I know a few people who have unfortunately had their computers catch a virus via Pinterest and this is becoming more of a common thing for people. 

Pinterest is a great way to kill time and share and discover wonderful things, but you do want to take some precautions. Here are some things you will want to do help make sure your computer stays safe;

Avoid the "Everything" tab

Sadly the "Everything" section is  becoming really heavily loaded with spam. Yuck. Sometimes are worse than others but I often will find lots of too good to be true weight loss junk, bogus pins for coupons, and even some nudity (aah my eyes!) I advise to only follow people you know and stick to that. Better safe than sorry! The popular tab is also usually fine, but still be cautious. 

Check the Links

Few people know how to do this, so I will teach you how! Before clicking on a pin to see the original site, check the link first. This will allow you to see where the pin will take you. There are two ways to do this;

You can see where the link is from by looking on the top right hand side of pin, as highlighted in red below;

This one above is from Flickr. Safe!

Another way to check, and you can use this when on blogs about to click on a link, or really anywhere.

Hover your mouse over the link, at the bottom left hand side of your screen you will see the full link;

A little small,but this one connects to Tumblr. Safe! 

But what are some red flags to look for?

If the link is particularly long or is only a jumble of numbers and letters, it may lead to spam.
If the words used for the site name are weird or don't make sense, this may be a red flag. 
If the link doesn't have any real words in it, I would consider that spam.

Here are some questionable links;

Good links

It does take a bit of a trained eye. But if you question it, don't! 

Report!

If you see spam/nudity or something that doesn't belong, report it! 

On the right hand side of each pin there are always a few options as shown below. Just click report pin....

(I didn't report the above pin, it's just an example!)

And it will have you choose what to report it under;

You can also report an account if you come across a sketchy account, like this one! 

To report them, when looking at their profile, on the right hand side of their name and info you will find a little grey flag and report them.

Also, take a look at Pinterest's  Pin Etiquette and Acceptable Use Policy

I hope this helps!

Be safe! And report when needed!