Pinterest prides itself on being a positive alternative to the toxicity that exists on other platforms.
Social media apps have features that keep users addicted. Unlike most social media companies, Pinterest hopes to be a place where people can get inspiration for a project, learn new recipes, or to simply look at nice pictures.
Pinterest has a new feature that doesn’t aim to keep it’s teen users on the app — but rather off the app.
What is Pinterest is telling teens?
Pinterest is testing a new pop-up for high school students in the U.S. and Canada which will appear every time a student opens the app during school hours: “Focus is a beautiful thing, stay in the moment by putting Pinterest down and pausing notifications until the school bell rings.”
The pop-up aims to deter teen users and make them reconsider using the app during class. Since the message can simply be dismissed or ignored, the success of this message is still in question.
Why is Pinterest trying to limit teen time?
Can limiting time on social help? “It’s so objectively clear that students will benefit from fewer distractions in the classroom […] It will benefit their learning,” said Pinterest CEO Bill Ready.
Pinterest is one of the first social media platforms to send this message to their young users. Pinterest’s chief legal officer Wanji Walcott hopes that other companies will join the effort, “Tech companies need to work together with teachers, parents, and policymakers to build solutions that ensure in the hands of our students, smartphones are tools, not distractions.”
Pinterest was also an early supporter of the pending Kids Online Safety Act which is intended to protect minors from the dangers social media.
Is Pinterest popular with teens?
Pinterest is not the most popular teen app, but it does have a significant teen user base. According to Pinterest, nearly 40% of its global monthly active users are Gen-Z (people born 1997-2012.)
What do teens say about Pinterest? According to Rachel Hardy, director of consumer marketing at Pinterest, “[Gen-Z] talks about it as a place to figure out what they like vs. being told what to like without the scrutiny or judgment they feel in other places. They’re developing their aesthetic, collecting resonant quotes, curating mood boards, and dreaming about their futures.”
@xoxomiah0ll Anyways follow my Pinterest link in bio
Can Pinterest protect teens?
Pinterest’s privacy features protect young users from unwanted interactions and harmful content. According to Pinterest’s newsroom, accounts of teenagers aged 16-17 are private by default, although they have the option to change to public. However, users aged 13-15 accounts are set to private by default, with no option to change them to public.
Pinterest has a policy against using filters on people’s faces, which they feel can contribute to unrealistic beauty standards and negatively impact people’s mental health.
Pinterest also supports restrictions on cell phones in schools. The company supports a proposed bill in Texas targeting students distracted by their phones and social media. The bill would ban the use of cell phones during class and would require teachers to store students’ phones in a secure area.
Is Pinterest different than Instagram and TikTok?
Instagram and TikTok also have default private accounts, and limited messaging capabilities for teens. Teen users are restricted from viewing sensitive content on Instagram.
Pinterest is more effective than its rivals at curbing the negative aspects of social media. Instead of focusing on the number of followers, likes and comments, Pinterest’s interface is focuses on positive, instructional or informational content. There isn’t the addictive doom-scrolling qualities that exist on other social media apps.
Pinterest’s aim to keep teens off the app during school is a bold move, and one of the first of its kind in the social media landscape. While Teens may embrace or ignore that message, Pinterest’s school-hours pause is worth pinning to your board. Will Pinterest’s rival’s be inspired to collaborate?
