Pinterest on Wednesday (Oct. 20) debuted a slew of new creator-centric features as part of its annual Creator Festival, including a redesigned app that will transform the platform to look, feel and act a bit more like TikTok, according to an Engadget report.
Changes to the Pinterest app that are inspired by TikTok include separating it into Browse, with the traditional Pin grid, and Watch, which includes full-screen vertical videos. The latter content is the lifeblood of TikTok, and Pinterest’s first-person videos are focused on Idea Pins created by users that often include narration or text overlays, just like TikTok’s viral dance videos and catchy music.
Pinterest’s Watch feed is moving the Idea Pins to a more prominent location within its app and adding swipe-able, TikTok-style presentations. Pinterest initially offered its Takes feature only to a select group of vetted creators but is now including it in the redesigned app, meaning all Pinterest users can take inspiration from other users’ Idea Pins, similar to how how TikTok users reimagine content.
TikTok has also launched a $500,000 creator fund to give financial assistance to creators from “under-represented backgrounds” and debuted monetization features to give creators more chances to make money on their creations through brand partnerships.
Related: Social Media Giants Jockey to Attract Brands, Influencers
Earlier this month, Pinterest debuted several new shoppable features, including the ability for merchants to create video-like slideshows of merchandise and a feature called Idea Ads that allows brands to collaborate with influencers and creators.
Pinterest says 89% of weekly users use the image-sharing social media platform for inspiration about purchases and are seven times more likely to say it’s the most influential platform in their purchase journey compared to other social media platforms.
TikTok recently surpassed 1 billion global monthly users, though the company did not disclose any demographic information about its base or how much time they spent on the platform on average.
Overall, social commerce expected to top $36 billion this year and at least $45 billion next year.
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