Sites I regularly visited in 2011

In 2011, I added Pinterest, Book Depository, Good Reads and Dribbble to the list of regular sites I visit.

I discovered Pinterest early 2011 and had to wait a little while for an invitation.  I loved it because a couple of friends who have incredible taste and style were on there already and it was fun to see where they got their inspiration from.  It quickly became my go-to for ideas for gifts, decorating, fashion, food and quotes.  I used to go to Flickr for these sorts of ideas, but I hardly go there now.

A friend told me about Book Depository in 2010 and it’s now replaced Amazon for most of my book purchases, thanks to its free shipping (which seems to be faster coming from the UK) and regular coupons.  In July it was bought out by Amazon, but as far as I’m able to tell, nothing has changed there to date.  For ages, I got confused about whether the site was the Book Depository or the Book Repository.

I had joined Good Reads in 2009, but rediscovered it as I started reading a lot again in November.  It helped that a couple of friends were also using it, and I liked to be able to talk with them about the books we are reading.  I used to use Amazon for ideas of what to read next, but in 2011, with my purchasing heading away from Amazon, so did my recommendations source. (I do still use Amazon for their Top Lists, and for price comparisons with Book Depository.)

I’ve known about Dribbble for quite a while too, but in 2011 it became a site I’d go to for color and trends inspiration.  I am a member (I think) but am just one of the observers for now.  When I design, I like to get feedback from a few trusted people and would find it quite a change in work process to throw ideas out to a wider audience when they’re still being worked on.  I can imagine it is a great community for those who need that kind of feedback though.