Pinterest Inc. plans to introduce a set of guidelines that influencers must adhere to when they post on the platform, as it attempts to preserve its reputation for a more positive user experience than much other social media.
Its so-called Creator Code will prompt anyone using the platform’s Story Pins, which let users share multiple video clips and images in a single post, to post content that is kind, sticks to factual information and practices inclusion, among other commitments.
Social-media companies have been investing in tools to encourage output from influencers, whose contributions they hope will help draw more users and generate more engagement. LinkedIn, the professional networking site owned by Microsoft Corp. , last month unveiled a “creator mode” setting for users who want to post original content on the platform. Facebook Inc. also said in March it would offer a free publishing tool for people who want to create websites or newsletters. And Twitter Inc. in February revealed plans to offer a subscription option for content producers.
But social-media operators also have an interest in making sure their most prominent content creators don’t contribute to unwanted material like misinformation on their platforms. Companies including Facebook’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube, for example, maintain policies for influencers who generate money on their platforms.
Pinterest, with its image of a relatively safe space for users, has attributed some of its growth in the past year to last summer’s advertiser boycott of Facebook over how it handles hate speech and other unwelcome content on its platforms.
Pinterest’s Creator Code is partly a response to events of the past year, when misinformation spread widely online, said Minnie Bredouw, creative director at Pinterest. The company wanted to give influencers information to help them understand nuances in the content they create for the site, and feel both encouraged and accountable for following the rules, she said.
The new code reinforces the company’s existing community guidelines and standards, the company said.
Pinterest said it removes, limits or blocks the sharing of content that violates its policies, as well as accounts, individuals, groups or domains that spread it. Because every Story Pin is reviewed by a person and machine-learning technology, Pinterest can gauge content subtleties and enforce the Creator Code on its own terms, according to executives.
“It is really to empower creators, so they understand how they can create on Pinterest in the best possible way,” said Colleen Stauffer, global head of creator marketing at Pinterest.
Pinterest is adding other features, including the ability for influencers to remove user comments from their posts and a reminder to users to be positive before they add comments, a technique known as nudging that has been used on other platforms. It also announced a $500,000 Creator Fund to work with influencers to post on the platform, with a commitment that 50% of the creators whom the company works with come from underrepresented groups.
Enforcing a code of ethics gives brands an extra layer of assurance that ads won’t appear next to content that doesn’t align with their own policies and values, said Gabrielle Blitz Rosen, founder and chief executive of Townhouse Digital LLC, a digital marketing and social-media agency.
“This code of conduct and relationship with creators is something we’ve seen on other platforms, but they are promoting kindness in a way that’s beneficial to creators and to advertisers,” Ms. Rosen said.
Write to Ann-Marie Alcántara at [email protected]
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