El 4: Should You Break Up With Pinterest for LoveIt?

At first glance, LoveIt looks exactly like Pinterest. And that's on purpose. The more visual something is, the more shareable it is.

LoveIt is a platform where you can discover, collect, organize and share images of — you guessed it — things you love. Yes, that's the same idea behind Pinterest. So, if you already use that platform, why in the world would you need another one?

Because you are going to fall in love with LoveIt.

LoveIt Gets You

Pinterest hooks you up with your Facebook friends, which is great. But you could be missing out on the content that you really love, rather than the content your friends are sharing. LoveIt constantly works to identify your specific interests and pulls compelling images based on those findings.

And if the things you love are things you want to keep to yourself, that's OK (talking to you, wedding planning pinners who aren't yet engaged).

"The lack of private collections on Pinterest is a hindrance to many people," says Ron LaPierre, LoveIt co-founder and CEO. "Even in the social world we live in today, many people want to keep certain things either to themselves or to an identified small group of friends or family. LoveIt allows them to do that."

LaPierre notes that those private collections make LoveIt a suitable place for businesses. For example, an architect can share plans and concepts with a client in private. More importantly, he can get feedback from the customer without tipping off competitors.

LoveIt's Sourcing and Terms of Service

LoveIt's content importer tool includes an algorithm that automatically credits the original content source.

Improper or missing credit is a huge problem on Pinterest (and other networks for that matter) because it essentially thwarts user interaction. Not only does a source link provide necessary credit, but it also promotes next steps — that's huge for advertisers and companies. Love that paisley bedspread? You should be able to click on its photo and buy it.

But in a place where images are the main focus, copyright and ownership is the elephant in the room.

When Pinterest's popularity exploded earlier this year, users pinned with wild abandon. But several content creators dropped it after closely examining its Terms of Service, which claims broad rights to all pinned photos. LoveIt was well aware of that controversy when it launched and didn't make the same mistake.

"We clearly call out in our Terms of Service that the content you bring into LoveIt is yours," says LaPierre. "We don't claim any ownership of the content and you're more than welcome to move it or share it on any other site you choose. We fully support the DMCA and the rights of content owners."

SEE ALSO: 10 Things People Love and Hate About Pinterest

Just like Pinterest, LoveIt provides an opt-out code that content owners can add to their website in order to prevent their material from appearing in LoveIt collections.

Drawback: It's Still Really, Really New

As with any service that's still in its early stages, LoveIt lacks the addictive content-packed boards that Pinterest is known for. This problem is one in which many early adopters are familiar. Building a robust library doesn't happen overnight. After all, it took Pinterest nine months to get 10,000 users.

But that doesn't mean that you won't still find great stuff on LoveIt. Upon signup, it prompts you to answer questions about your interests and generates suggestions from there. Will those first few photos be completely different than the pins you stumble upon on Pinterest? Probably not yet.

This is where you will have to do some training. But you won't necessarily have to start from scratch. You can do a bulk import of the stuff you've already uploaded to Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr and your blog.

Do We Still Want This?

Pinteret's exponential traffic started slowing down in April. But does that mean the concept of a photo-centric network is just a hyped-up Internet fad? Probably not. The web loves its photos. Facebook Timeline is proof enough.

But is there room for a service that basically does the same thing as another really successful one? Definitely. The Internet has unlimited space, and every network needs a competitor. Just ask Groupon.

While LaPierre was hesitant to give us a hard number of LoveIt's active users, he did say it has a "solid base" that is steadily growing.

"What I can tell you is that it took Pinterest months to get 10,000 users," he says. "We surpassed that a few days after our June 7 launch date."

Are you still active on Pinterest? Would you consider switching to LoveIt? Tell us in the comments.

Bonus: Other Social Networks to Keep an Eye On

Path is an online journal to which you can post photos, travel updates, the music you're listening to, etc. Use the app for keeping in touch with friends and family.

Connect your social sites to share Path updates on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Although its trippy logo makes us dizzy, Highlight was one of the most buzzed about new social apps at SXSW this year.

The location-based service alerts you when another Highlight user is nearby. The app continuously runs GPS in the background all day to make sure you're constantly connected.

Similar to Highlight, Sonar helps you learn more about the people in your immediate vicinity.

By surveying your Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare accounts, Sonar determines your most appropriate connections. Sonar suggests using the app for activities like networking and online dating.

An additional location-based social tool, Banjo not only alerts you when your Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare or Instagram connections are nearby, but also tells you about hot activities in the area.

Glancee's radar tool helps discover which friends are nearby. Keep notes in the app's diary about all of your encounters and events.

Localmind is the app for spontaneous, social users. The service gathers information from users nearby about events, restaurant specials and attractions occurring now.

Localmind generates location-specific information by analyzing Foursquare and Facebook checkins. Similar to Foursquare, earn karma points for helping others out and giving location advice.

Very similar to Pinterest, Fancy encourages users to "fancy" products that then file into a digital wish list of sorts. The difference between Fancy and Pinterest is that you can actually buy the products on Fancy.

So far, we've talked about apps that log what you've done in the past, and services that improve your experience in the present. Forecast asks what you plan to do in the future.

The platform's developers hope that forecasting your yoga class tomorrow night will encourage other friends to join the fun.

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