Pinterest Valued at $1.5 Billion

Who said new social media sites can't make a big enough bang? Further proof of the power, value and success of social networks in today's society has now been proven following the announcement that network newbie Pinterest is now valued at a whopping one and a half billion dollars.

The website, which has only been around for three years, introduces the classic style of scrap booking but with a digital twist. The online system allows people to 'pin' images to their own profile and naturally, follow and comment on the images of others. It took a while to get people interested and by 2011 it seemed to be struggling to make a real impact by obtaining a mere one million followers; put that alongside Facebook's staggering 90 million following and in the world of social media the site really wasn't doing very well. Fast forward a year later however and the story has changed rather quickly. By early 2012 the site confirmed that it now had an impressive following of 20 million.

Such social start-ups and their values have grown exponentially over the years; just take a look at Facebook's staggering one billion dollar purchase of Instagram. Photo apps, particularly the new ones are more popular than ever which is why it comes as no surprise that Pinterest has now been valued at a jaw dropping one and a half billion dollars!

The rising value comes thanks to a massive investment deal but we wonder whether the site may now hit that slump so familiar with internet start-ups, particularly with many now asking just how much will the site continue to grow? With online marketing firms struggling to see it's real value and image lovers jumping on the Instagram bandwagon; how long before people get bored? Or worse, Facebook takes over?

Only time will tell…