Pinterest

With its virtual pinboards providing inspiration for cooking, fashion, home renovations, and other projects, Pinterest has become a refuge from rage-baiting social media cesspools. Young people and the brands trying to reach them have taken notice. The “visual search and discovery” platform now boasts over half a billion monthly users, 42% of whom are Gen Z, the company’s fastest-growing demographic. In 2023 its revenue increased nearly 10%, topping $3 billion. The company in February struck a new ad deal with Google focused on international markets (80% of users are outside of the U.S). And with evidence mounting that competitor Instagram can negatively impact teen girls’ mental health, Pinterest in March launched an AI-powered feature that lets users refine their searches by body type, which it says will result in more-inclusive image results. “With all the toxicity on social media, we are committed to building a successful business model focused on positivity,” chief revenue officer Bill Watkins says. Other social media executives now appear to be on the same page; in March, Meta rolled out a new setting that reduces “political content” on Instagram and Threads.