Pinterest is revamping its app for the TikTok era: Answering to Gen Z's demands for video-centric features, the company announced Tuesday it will let users create short videos from their curated Pinterest boards and share them on social media.
The new feature was inspired by the video sharing activity already taking place on apps like TikTok. For example, in 2022, Pinterest introduced a new collage-making app called Shuffles, which quickly became popular among TikTok's Gen Z creators. The app, which was still invite-only at the time, went viral after Pinterest users published so-called “aesthetic” collages and mood boards set to music and posted them on TikTok. Shuffles then became the inspiration for an official Pinterest feature that allowed users to buy collages.
Additionally, Pinterest users are sharing boards on apps like TikTok in more manual ways, like posting screenshots or using the app's green screen effect, to share their curated collections, style and personality. Pinterest calls this type of sharing the “mecore” trend, noting that searches related to this activity have grown 565% year over year on the platform. Boards titled “mecore” have also grown 255% since last year, the company said.
Screenshot image credit: Pinterest
Board sharing allows Pinterest users to be more creative in sharing their boards on social media. Shared boards also provide links that people can click to return to the full board on Pinterest to view or shop the content it has collected. To date, Pinterest users have created over 10 billion boards.
The addition could encourage more social sharing among Gen Z users already drawn to Pinterest, and could be a way to leverage the viral mechanisms of platforms like TikTok to drive more traffic to the Pinterest app.
To introduce the new features and position it as a way for creators to reach their fans in new ways, the company partnered with power users and recording artists Avril Lavigne and Tierra Whack for the launch. Lavigne's boards feature fashion inspiration and tour promotions, while Whack uses Pinterest to showcase her diverse interests and gather inspiration for her own creative projects.
To use this feature, simply tap the share icon in the top right of your public board and your video will be generated automatically. You can then click the “Add to Story” or “Download” buttons to share your video elsewhere, like TikTok. If you're sharing to your Instagram Story, use the sticker icon to find the link sticker and paste in your board's URL.
The company says you can also edit the pins on your board before sharing and choose a different template.
“Gen Z represents over 40% of Pinterest's global monthly users and is the most active generation. Compared to last year, we've seen a significant increase in the number of boards created by Gen Z pinners,” Rachel Hardy, director of consumer product marketing at Pinterest, said in a statement about the new features. “We're enhancing board features based on user feedback, and board sharing is one of our key investments this year as users value the ability to share their creative process and get inspiration from others across platforms.”