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Pinterest introduces more manly search to get men to join social network

It’s like normal Pinterest. But for ‘guys’

Andrew Griffin
Monday 26 January 2015 12:10 GMT
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Pinterest has added new search results for men that highlight more manly content. The new feature is an attempt by one of the few social networks used mostly by women to lure men to the site.

The site has introduced a new feature, called Guided Search, that will customise search results according to users’ interests. That is thought mostly to be aimed at helping men get on the site, and avoid them seeing information pinned by and tailored for women.

About 71% of the site’s users are women, according to comScore data, though men is the site’s fastest-growing demographic and the ratio is less skewed in emerging markets.

Because of the concentration of women on the site, search results would often throw up images and stories that were tailored towards them.

“Before when you searched Pinterest for “watches,” your results would include mostly women’s timepieces,” wrote Pei Yin, a Pinterest engineer, in a blog post introducing the new feature. “But now, men will see Pins and guides inspired by what other guys have Pinned, and everybody’s results should feel a lot closer to what they’re looking for.”

Yin highlighted other search terms such as hair, shoes or health as those that once would have been dominated by women, but will now look more masculine when men search for them.

Users will have the option to tweak the settings, the company said, citing the example of men searching for gifts for women.

Users can also change their gender on the site’s settings page.

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