What Silicon Valley can learn from Pinterest

When was the last time a social media company could say it had a good week? Because that’s something the often overlooked social media platform Pinterest can actually claim today.

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Pinterest had confidentially submitted paperwork to the Securities and Exchange Commission to file an IPO later this year. Just two days earlier, the Journal also broke the news that Pinterest had taken the most definitive action of any social media company in the fight against anti-vaxxer misinformation by blocking searches of vaccine content on the platform; finally, it seemed, a social media company willing to actually do something about online misinformation with real-world consequences.

Pinterest hasn’t always made headlines, and that’s been by design. A 2018 New York Times profile of the company and founder/CEO Ben Silbermann revealed the under-the-radar, “slow and steady,” ethically minded, and user-focused way that Silbermann built and guided the company. In 2019, that appears to be paying off. With 250 million users, it is expecting a valuation of $12 billion, and a reputation as one of the only social media companies running itself responsibly.

What’s behind the Pinterest party? How has a network with a reputation as a somewhat silly, frivolous platform gained the approval of Wall Street, health advocates, and Twitter pundits alike?

There are a few possibilities, of which the rest of Silicon Valley — looking at you, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube — should take note.

First, it’s possible to trace Pinterest’s current positives — growing revenue, growing user base, and a decisive content moderation policy — to its central, and clear, value proposition.

Unlike many other social media companies, Pinterest seems, simply, to know and express what it is: the digital incarnation of a pin board. It is a place for users to both discover and gather visual content they want to keep and refer to later. It may have some social integrations, like hearts and follows, but they are all in service to this central mission.

Compare that to Facebook, which is about “community.” And also expressing ideas? And also all this other stuff? Or Twitter, which is about “conversation,” something it is not necessarily even good at. Is YouTube about watching videos, or creating them? Listening to music, or stumbling into fascism? The misguided breadth of other social media platforms has led these companies into the seemingly intractable problems of pernicious misinformation, toxic speech, spam, time wasting, and more. By contrast, Pinterest has an actual purpose and identity. And that makes it valuable.

It is particularly valuable in the monetary sense because of the nature of its purpose. Pinterest, filled with recipes and interior design and makeup and fashion, is suited to retail and shopping discovery — which has a clear application for advertising. According to the Times article, better analytics and international expansion have allowed that ad service to grow.

Pinterest’s value proposition also gives it a clear user base. Famously, Pinterest gained popularity first amongst mothers in the midwest — not teenagers. This is a more stable user base than teens who age out of social networks, and new teens who move onto the next thing. It also makes Pinterest over 80 percent women, who not only have money to spend, but guide shopping decisions. Who cares about teens when you can have moms?

In terms of content, that clear identity also provides self-assured guidance to content moderation. Pinterest is inspiration, discovery, and, well, shopping. Pinterest told The Guardian that it should not lead people into what researchers have described as a “data void,” a place where misinformation dominates over accuracy. And, subsequently, to what Pinterest’s public policy and social impact manager, Ifeoma Ozoma, described to the Journal as a “recommendation rabbit hole.” Pinterest’s decision to essentially break its search terms for vaccines was refreshingly obvious.

The Times reported in the 2018 profile that Silbermann screened his engineers for their ethical stances before even considering them for their technical skills. He also reportedly spends more time meeting with users than going on media and VC tours. His growth strategy has been slower and more deliberate than other companies; this, according to the Times, has frustrated employees, and even caused high levels of turnover. But perhaps the tortoise really does win the race.

Pinterst is clearly not a perfect platform. It’s full of bald consumerism and hashtag wisdom, and still contains many claims about the superfoods that can fight cancer, or the herbs that will juice your metabolism. But it is not trying to be a font for all wisdom, nor a place where people can discuss the merits of one diet theory over another. 

Its name — still accurately conveying what it still, nine years after its founding, actually is — imbues it with purpose and value. That clarity and intention is something of which Silicon Valley should take note.

They certainly will be when Pinterest’s opening bell rings.