What you would love to know about Pinterest

Clean and simple to use, Pinterest attracts people who need to organize the chaos of Internet-age information overload. It serves as an online scrapbook of images they find on the Web, a place to post fashion inspirations, decorating aspirations and more. It's a digital dream collage, a recipe box and a corkboard full of magazine clippings all at once.

The site's popularity has exploded in recent months, making it one of the fastest-growing websites in history. Its ascent to 10 million monthly visitors happened faster than Facebook, Twitter or any other site tracked by comScore.

What makes Pinterest's surge unusual is that it's driven not by the usual geek crowd of young men but by women, that use the sleek, photo-heavy website for fashion ideas, wedding planning and home design, or just to share photos of puppies.

Steve Jones, professor of communication at the University of Illinois in Chicago, likened Pinterest to a bulletin board in a bedroom or dorm room.

Access to Pinterest is currently by invitation only, so those looking to join need to request one from the company or ask a friend already on it.

Once you're in, you can create a board and name it "recipes," "weddings" or anything else. As you find images you like on the Web, you "pin" them to your boards to share with others.

Pinterest, like game maker Zynga and many others before it, likely wouldn't have grown as popular without the help of Facebook, the world's largest online social network. Facebook said last month that the number of its users visiting Pinterest every day grew by 60 percent after it was integrated into the site in January.

In another sign it's made a mark, Pinterest has already spawned parody. The gender discrepancy is probably why someone thought to create Manteresting.com, a site that looks just like Pinterest – but for dudes.

Instead of pinning images, you nail them. Instead of puppy photos and cupcakes, there are Star Wars references, beer and sneakers. Instead of willowy dresses and floppy hats, the women of Manteresting wear as little as possible.