Women are on the social media platform Pinterest.
Women are the primary decision makers about health care in most households (~80% according to the U.S. Department of Labor).
Get it?

Let's delve in. I was never interested in Facebook or Twitter—and at one point thought they were jokes—but I ended up joining them and seeing their utility. Likewise, I thought Pinterest was a joke. I registered on the site, but still hadn't really seen the utility—at least for me.

I saw a tweet from @BrianSMcGowan—"'Like' This: The Most Effective Uses of Social Media in Healthcare" bit.ly/MV2YB1 #hcsm #overview #socialQi,” which directed me to the referenced article.

There were a number of interesting points in the article, but I was intrigued by comments from Lee Aase, director of Mayo Clinic's Center for Social Media. He noted social media platforms that are currently underutilized by health care organizations include Pinterest and YouTube. Pinterest started in 2010, but has rapidly been growing in popularity, particularly among women. Notably 97% of the fans of Pinterest's Facebook page are women. And women tend to be the primary decision-maker about health care in most households, as noted above.

"That’s where people are. That’s the bottom line," said Ed Bennett, who tracks the use of social media in health care as Director of Web Strategy for the University of Maryland Medical Center. Social media and mobile health expert Jennifer Shine Dyer, MD, MPH (@Endogoddess) noted in her blog in March (bold added):

"I LOVE pinterest. It is so very very beautiful. I am also using it now as my main index to organize my shopping and cooking interest. Sometimes I like to just look at my boards and sort of wander around in the prettiness of the things I love . . . it's like a visual dreamland. Regarding health, seems the best way to use pinterest would be to distribute health information related to facts that people would like to 'collect' . . . this is the way users like me are looking at the pins on the main feed (i.e., what do I like and want to collect and add to my boards?). Hope that helps! If not, follow me on pinterest for a few days and I think you'll get the hang of it. :)"

From a return on investment (ROI) perspective, apparently Pinterest is driving more online sales than any other network and "brands are growing faster than on Twitter," according to SocialMouths.com.

"If 2012 is going to go down the history books as the Facebook year, then it would also be remembered as the year of Pinterest," notes blogger Prasant Naidu (@LHInsights) on SocialMediaToday.com.

So, are you on Pinterest? Is your health care organization? Even heard of it? Whatever group (e.g., ASCO) gets to Pinterest first will gain a foothold in the digital mind of the primary health care decision makers for families. "That’s where people are. That’s the bottom line."