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Pinterest Not Working?

I wasn’t planning to post anything today.

But that unfortunately changed after I started receiving a lot of very angry emails… for something I didn’t actually do!

If you were one of the thousands of people who received an email message from Pinterest yesterday, saying I reported your pin and didn’t want you to pin my recipes, this is absolutely NOT true. I have no idea why they’d send out such a message… It’s either spam or a very strange Pinterest glitch. Pinterest not working much?

As is obvious by the fact that I have a pin button and a Chocolate Covered Katie Pinterest Board, I very much love and appreciate when people pin my recipes. My Pinterest board has already lost followers from this, and goodness knows how many people will never pin my recipes again because they think I don’t want them to! Nothing could be further from the truth.

pinterest not working

Pinterest does know about the issue, and they’re working on resolving it. In their words, “…this is a big deal and we really messed up. I’ll have our copyright team look into this ASAP.” Hopefully their help desk will be able to reinstate all of the chocolate frosting shots pins they deleted from your boards! In the meantime, please accept my apologies for everything, and do not worry about pinning or repinning from my site in the future… I always appreciate it.

I’m honored when people pin things from my site!

Be back tomorrow… with chocolate.

Published on May 29, 2013

Meet Katie

Chocolate Covered Katie is one of the top 25 food websites in America, and Katie has been 
featured on The 
Today Show, CNN, 
Fox, The 
Huffington Post, and 
ABC's 5 O’Clock News. Her favorite food is chocolate, and she believes in eating dessert every single day.

Learn more about Katie

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71 Comments

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  1. Kelsey says

    Sorry Pinterest is being weird on you! I got the email and concluded it was a glitch! Everything looked legit! Hopefully everyone else figures it wasn’t you also!

  2. Shelly says

    wow… that is crazy and I have to wonder.. why would anyone be on Pinterest if they didn’t want their pics repinned?

  3. Carrie MacLean says

    Sorry to hear of this “glitch” that impacts your business. While social media is a great tool for us to share ideas and raise awareness of our businesses and our blogs, it is a shame with it works against us. Hopefully the issue will be quickly resolved, and your loyal fans will help spread the word and your viewers will increase as a result.

  4. Jane says

    Just so you know, I did NOT get any such email, so I guess it’s good that not every single person who re-pinned your pins got one? Anyway, that is WEIRD and a big pain in the butt and I hope it blows over soon.

  5. Dana says

    Ugh. I’m so sorry you’re gong through this. I’ve been on Pinterest FOREVER & you were one of the 1st people I started pinning. You have ALWAYS been SO sweet & helpful & even though I’m sure you don’t remember…you have ALWAYS answered my questions & replied to me when I’ve wrote you. Really appreciate it & you. Hope it gets fixed soon.

  6. amanda says

    Im so sorry that happened to you!! Also it would be pretty hard for anyone to stay mad at you when you offer to return with chocolate tomorrow 😉

  7. Ashli says

    If they could just leave well enough alone…sheesh! Hopefully this won’t run people off of Pinterest!

  8. melissa @ my whole food life says

    That is strange. I haven’t seen that at all. Probably some weird glitch. I know as a blogger, its an honor when someone re-pins my pins. We love sharing! Sorry that happened to you.

  9. Kristin says

    Wowsers- I hope it wasnt a hack that someone figured out. So sorry and hope Pinterest is able to work it out for you. You do awesome work!

  10. Amber says

    That stinks! Try not to be too upset about it. If people got took it personally and sent you mean emails, then I’m sure they have some personal issues about taking offense that they need to work on. You can’t hold yourself responsible for other people’s feelings when you had nothing to do with it. Hopefully they will see your post and realize it’s not your fault . Keep on keeping on and making wonderful chocolatey things! P.S. I love your tofu chocolate mousse and black bean brownies. They make me happy 🙂

  11. April says

    I didn’t get an email yesterday. But I’m sorry if you lost any fans due to pinterest. Since I’m on pinterest the most instead of here or facebook that is where I get all your recipes. I got an email from pinterest a couple months ago from another recipe board that didn’t want people repinning their recipes. I unfollowed so I didn’t make that mistake again. Seriously why post on a site where repinning is the whole idea.

  12. Amanda says

    I got the e-mail over the weekend and I was so confused! I was like aw, why was it reported, she loves when people pin things! Sorry this happened to you. Thank you for clearing it up!

  13. Kathy says

    I didn’t get the email, but I did get one a couple of months ago about someone else’s pin. Makes me wonder if it was the same issue!

  14. Megan says

    Katie- I’ve followed your blog for a while, but for some reason I was not following your Pinterest page. Well, not anymore! You’ve got another follower here in NJ. Keep the yummy stuff coming!!!!

  15. Jenny d says

    What a mess! The other day Julie from the Table for Two blog was tweeting about this so it’s not just you! Hopefully Pinterest will send out an email to everyone explaining it’s their glitch and quite sending hate e-mail.

  16. Ashley says

    I received the email that the pin was removed, but even if you *had* reported it, I can’t imagine being so upset over it as to send an angry email or even unfollow you! I assumed that perhaps the pin in question was misattributed or a repost. Goodness. What an overreaction.

  17. Meri says

    We <3 you, Katie! It would take a lot more than a Pinterest e-mail to keep me from repining OR visiting your page! Keep inspiring us with your fabulous, healthy recipes and we'll keep adoring you!

  18. Laurie says

    Thanks for clarifying. I discovered your blog throu Pinterest and love your recipes, so I’m relieved to learn that it’s still ok to pin from your site

  19. Clea says

    I just wanted to tell you how much I love your recipes, especially the black bean brownies and the cookie pie. My kids, husband and co-workers like them too and the gluten intolerant folks have taken the recipe hand outs from me. Teachers love their sweets!
    We work with expelled high schoolers so special treats are a must in the staff room :).

  20. Tash says

    I got the email, thought it was a bit weird! So sorry you have received nasty emails 🙁 Ive just pinned this post 🙂

  21. Anonymous says

    I got the email and I was really surprised. It’s good to know that you’ve contacted them to take care of it. I love your recipes and your blog!

  22. Eunice says

    I’ve received that email before. What bugs me is the fact that you can’t tell which pin was the alleged offender. I didn’t stop pinning your recipes. I guessed that maybe someone else posted something of your on their blog and it was on Pinterest as their recipe. I also try to make sure the link works when I re-pin; sometimes not re-pinning but pinning directly from the site/blog.

  23. Amanda says

    I got that email. I figured maybe you were upset that someone changed the wording in the description or something. Weird that this happened and you didn’t do anything to cause it!

  24. Natasha says

    That’s so weird. I didn’t receive an email. I did receive that email about another blogger a while back and thought it was weird, now I wonder if that was also a mistake.

  25. Lori says

    I did get one of those emails but I wasn’t offended in any way. I feel bad that people feel the need to be mean and take it out on you! Keep up your good work and ignore the negative. You do a great job!

  26. Chris says

    Katie, I came here to repin the recipe. No anger from me — I assumed someone had stolen your image and turned it into spam. I hope you get it resolved quickly, cause those are some pretty fantastic chocolate frosting shots!!!!

  27. Kim Regan says

    I got the email and it won’t affect the way I pin from your site, yo are wonderful Katie. Keep up the good work!

  28. FoundProdigalDaughter (Nicolle) says

    I also got the email but came to your blog and went to the specific post it mentioned (Frozen Chocolate Frosting…or something along those lines) and saw your note posted about the pinterest problems…so I just repinned it. Sorry you’re having to deal with this…what a pain.

  29. Ellie says

    So sorry that happened to you–I can’t imagine how frustrated you must be! I hope they can help resolve the glitch for you. <3

  30. Lissy says

    I haven’t gotten any emails from your stuff that I’ve pinned, but I got one from another recipe site and I thought it was the weirdest thing. Why would someone not want traffic from Pinterest? Now I know it was probably a mistake. That really sucks. I hope they have that fixed soon.

  31. Marsha says

    I didn’t receive an email about one of your pins, but did receive one last week about another blogger’s recipe. She had the same response as you, that she did not report any unauthorized pins. She was also receiving nasty emails and posts to her Facebook. First, there is no reason to send a nasty email to a blogger; and, second, it’s just a recipe, albeit a great one if it’s from your site! People need to lighten up, and realize even Pinterest has glitches!

  32. Marie says

    So sorry people got mad and deleted you. I got the email, was confused, and just carried on assuming something went wrong? People get angry too quickly before they try to find out the truth. Hopefully pinterest solves the problem and you get your fans back!

  33. Devon says

    Weird! I didn’t get an email, but I have had issues in the past trying to pin from your site. I think the last time it said something about your picture being invalid? Saved the recipe in my emails, and it won’t stop me from trying again. Good luck! Still a follower 😉

  34. Debbie says

    I did not receive the email, or at least I didn’t notice it, but as one of your dedicated followers I would have really questioned the authenticity of the email since it does not seem like something you would ever conceive to do. In my opinion you show your appreciation very often and your blog is to encourage people to share your methods. Why would you ever discourage it!?! Keep up the wonderful work and your followers, like myself, will keep following.

  35. Ruth says

    I think it’s spam that’s unrelated to the authentic pinterest site. I would contact pinterest and share your experience. If it’s happened to you, it has probably happened to someone else.
    Hugs,
    Ruth

  36. kathy says

    I noticed in my spam folder I had something from Pinterest, but since I can’t open Pinterest at work, I didn’t bother looking at it. I probably would have ignored the message anyway and I know you would never say anything like that. If it were true, it would come from your website and not a third party site. We’ll keep pinnin away!!!

  37. Maya says

    That’s too bad. But… Pinterest doesn’t tell you who reports your pin when it’s removed. I know this because I’ve posted nursing photos that (apparently) show too much skin. Several got removed.

    Sorry to hear this, Katie, but my experience with Pinterest so far has been that they try hard on customer service. Hope this is true for you too going forward.

    Now, off to find you. 🙂

  38. Jana says

    Pinterest has sent me multiple “warning” emails about things I have pinned that they say are inappropriate. The emails say they will have to essentially kick me off of Pinterest if this type of pinning continues. However, they can’t tell me what the pins are, and they never respond to my emails about them . I don’t pin anything even remotely inappropriate. The closest thing I could come up with after scouring my boards was someone in a bikini in an exercise related pin. I sometimes think Pinterest just shoots off emails in some weird way to cover themselves. It’s very frustrating! Hopefully they can solve your issue!

  39. Tina says

    I didn’t get an email from anything I pinned from your site, but I did get two emails regarding things I had pinned from Pinterest links on other sites. I contacted the blogger because the Pinterest link is still active on her site. Not to be a grouchy guss, but to let her know there was a problem. Like you, she had absolutely no idea that it was happening. It’s technology, so many things could have happened.

  40. Haley says

    Katie,

    Just wanted to say you showed a great deal of restraint in the graceful way you handled an obviously stressful (and unfair!) situation. I admire your attitude and I’m confident your followers will respect you all the more for it. And keep pinning your yummy recipes.

    Haley

  41. Tracy | Screaming Sardine says

    Thanks for posting about this. I received one of those messages yesterday from Pinterest, and I thought: “Wow, she doesn’t want the exposure?” So glad it was a glitch and that they’re going to work on this very big mess up. Geez!

  42. Amber Apple says

    I’m so sorry about this. I didn’t receive an email, but I would have ignored it. It’s pretty obvious that you would love for your recipes to be pinned! 🙂 Don’t let it get you down!

  43. trajayjay says

    Just asking. What do you think of the vegans who go around telling everybody that they’re evil heartless murderers for eating meat, eggs, and dairy. The ones who think that they’re holier than everyone else.

    I really don’t like them. They can’t judge us based on our diet, yet they do. They get so caught up in animal rights that they forget that they shouldn’t abuse humans either. Often they resort to name calling.

    Katie, I wish more vegans could be like you and NOT go around insulting everyone’s diet like not eating meat automatically makes you an angel. I want all vegans to see your blog. I want all meat eaters to see your blog, so that they can drop their misconception that ALL vegans are self-righteous, preachy, scrawny, anemic, nutbags. Vegans like Countmonaco give vegans like you a bad name.

  44. Beth B says

    Could you have been hacked? I didn’t receive any such message but my Amazon account was hacked yesterday.

  45. Jennifer says

    I’m sorry people got so angry at you. It seems silly. I love repinning your recipes for my non vegans friends to see;)

  46. Sally Chippendale says

    I can imagine how stressful that must of been; something about you but out of your control. I didn’t get the email but I’m going to go check the board that has some of your food pinned on and see if its still there. So strange. I’ll keep pinning.

  47. Ashley Bee (Quarter Life Crisis Cuisine) says

    What I’m finding on Pinterest is a LOT of people are stealing content and re-pinning. It’s getting really hard to know if something pinned is original content or not. Also, people are re-pinning with the whole recipe in the pin, meaning there’s no reason to click through to the blogger and therefore get the blogger click revenue and they lose money. This sucks that it happened to you, but it’s good that they’re trying to protect your pictures and recipes. Hopefully it all gets sorted out!

  48. Cheryl says

    That is so strange, I’m sure they’ll have this fixed in a jiffy. Who knows, this may turn out positive, greater stronger following 🙂

  49. Annie says

    I got the e-mail and it made me remember your wonderful blog and come visit again. I was wondering why that happened, but seeing all the pin it buttons and links to your pinterest made me feel better, confused, but better. I thought you would explain what happened and I’m glad you did. Thanks for all your awesome recipes!!! 😀

  50. Janice DelRossi says

    I was just going through my spam folder and saw the one from Pinterest. I had no idea what they were talking about, so I had to google it and the name to try and figure it out. Glad to see that it wasn’t something you requested. I thought it odd that a blogger wouldn’t want their recipes shared. I didn’t even get a chance to make them yet. Good luck getting to the bottom of this.

  51. Jess says

    That is horrible! I did not get that email but I will definitely keep pinning your stuff and reading your blog. I am even pinning this!

  52. emmit says

    I am one of those thousands..I have 14 group boards and haven’t been able to post people to any of them for over a week…I have written pinterest about this several times and all I get is how small there staff is and how they are working to fix the problem…its obvious that the people on staff can’t fix the problems so just hire someone…I am not normally this blunt, but, I have had it…

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