This is a guest post from Amy LeBlanc of Levee Road Studios! Amy keeps a close eye on all things Pinterest, and we were happy to have her give us her take on Shuffles by Pinterest.
Have you heard about the new Shuffles app Pinterest released in August 2022? 
This new app has Pinterest managers and bloggers wondering:
- a.) Should we have a presence there?
- b.) Is it worth joining for our clients?
- c.) What’s all the fuss I’m seeing on TikTok?
- d.) Do we really have to learn ANOTHER platform?!?!
Wellllll, I spent the last 2 weeks on the app — snooping and making shuffles — so you don’t have to. Let me show you around the app and answer those questions for ya!
Shuffles App: What You Need to Know
If you haven’t heard, Pinterest quietly launched the Shuffles app in early August.
Shuffles is a standalone app created by a team at Pinterest specifically for designing and sharing collages and custom mood boards called Shuffles.
Here’s a little peek:
How the App Works
Every user logs in using their Pinterest account. You can browse Shuffles made by others on 4 social feeds:
- For you
- Popular
- Hashtags
- Recent
Users can also search for (and follow) Accounts and Hashtags in the app. The only way to see a hashtag’s number of followers is on the Hashtags feed (more on this in a sec).
How to Make a Shuffle
When making Shuffles, you can use images from:
- Pinterest (using the in-app search engine)
- Uploaded images from your phone, or
- Stickers from the in-app sticker selection.
The stickers offered are pretty limited and mostly offer a vintage style. I’m not sure how often the selection is updated. Updates seem pretty random. 
Don’t see any stickers you like? No problem…
The Pinterest search feature allows you to grab ANY image that exists on Pinterest to add to your Shuffle.
Images from Pinterest (and uploaded images) can be edited to remove the background or cut out the object of the image, like these pink headphones for example:
There are lots of editing tools within the app to help you style your Shuffle like drop shadows, outlines, filters, and animations.
Link, Links, and More LINKS!
Once a Shuffle is published, each image pulled from Pinterest is automatically linked to its source URL and to the Pinterest pin. 
If an image doesn’t have a source URL, the link will only lead back to the pin on Pinterest.
How to Get an Invite
Currently, this app is invite-only, meaning you either have to:
- Join the waitlist to receive a code or
- Get a code from someone who already has the app and has available invites.
This launch style is VERY similar to the invite-only Clubhouse app launch… Who remembers asking around for a Clubhouse invite?!
This launch method creates scarcity and major FOMO, which is perfect for stirring up some interest in the new app.
Side note/FYI because I was confused about this: New users do NOT automatically get invite codes.
But a few days later the Share code button turned into a Request invites button. So I clicked it, and I eventually got an invite about a week later.
Soooooo, Should You Start Marketing on Shuffles?
Ok. Here’s the scoop:
13-year-old me (who used to spend hours making collages from magazine clippings) is obsessed with this app. It’s a TON of fun.
*****BUT*****
30-something-year-old me says: it’s NOT a viable place to market your blog or business. At least not yet.
Articles like this one are pretty misleading and might make you think there is a huge audience there… But since the app is still invite-only, the audience there is very VERY small.
For example, the largest following I’ve seen on Shuffles is the hashtag #aesthetic with just over 5.6k followers. The next most popular is #taylorswift.
So, even though the FOMO is hitting hard… I promise you’re not missing out.
And, don’t worry, no need to learn yet another platform right now. 
The people just aren’t there (yet!).
Instead, I’d MUCH rather you spend time on good ol’ regular Pinterest.
So tell me, are you on the Shuffles app? If so, what do you think?
