As creators, users can control the number of pin boards they create,
the category that each board is placed in, and the title they give it.
They do not have complete control, though. The titles must be very short,
as users are confined by a character limit. Also every new board must be
categorized and users are limited to these categories. Even the category
"Other" is restrictive, because it does not allow users to name their own
category. If something doesn't fit into one of the categories, it is
simply listed as "Other."
If a pin board does not have a category assigned to it, viewers can suggest one to the creator. This could be seen as a form of lateral surveillance; the creators of Pinterest would like each board to be categorized so the site is easily searchable, but they cannot assign categories to every single board themselves, so they offer users the chance to categorize other users' boards. In this way, the users police one another's use of the site.
Each user's collection of boards is featured as an account, and they have the ability to write a short description of themselves and list their website. Within each board, they also control what images they pin and what captions are featured below the images. Like the titles of the boards, captions and descriptions of the users are confined to a character limit. Visual communication is obviously preferred over textual communication.
As viewers of others' accounts and boards, users can comment on pins, "like" them or "repin" them to one of their own boards. They are also able to follow all of another user's boards or just one board. This is yet another form of lateral surveillance. Users clearly show their approval by liking, following, and repinning other users' pins. Next to the description on each user's page, Pinterest keeps a running count of how many followers they have. Below each pin, they also display how many times the image was liked or repinned. There is clearly an incentive to create pinboards that are interesting or appealing to others.
