Pinterest is one of the most popular social media sites. With 70 million users, it is third behind Facebook and LinkedIn and ahead of Twitter and Instagram. When it first came out in 2010, many people were asking themselves “why didn’t I think of that?” Pinterest is a lot like a scrapbook, a dorm room pin board, an inspirational quote book or even a cook book.
We Heart It, established in 2008, is Brazil’s equivalent to Pinterest. It is a place to find the most beautiful images of all the things you love, discover and save quotes, pictures that match your mood or research images for an art or fashion collage.
In 2011, the We Heart It site had 460 million page views with 7.7 million unique – far greater than Pinterest at 91 million page views and 1.5 million unique. Investor funds have allowed Pinterest to develop a huge lead over We Heart It in their user statistics. Now valued at $1.5 billion, Pinterest boasts more than two billion page views and 34.5 million monthly unique.
The explosive growth of Pinterest is directly attributed to its ability to generate investor financing. The creators of We Heart It turned down investors, choosing steady growth driven by strategic ad revenue. Roughly 80% of We Heart It’s monthly users are under the age of 24. Pinterest’s demographic is very much the opposite. Roughly 80% of Pinterest users are over the age of 24.
We Heart it and Pinterest have a lot of similarities and also a few key differences. Here are a few of them:
Similarities
- “Heart it” and “Pin it” buttons allow you to attach images or any web content you find and like to your profile.
- Hearts and likes identify your favorite images and are saved.
- Sets and boards classify your favorite images into subjects such as quotes, inspiration and summer looks.
- “Image” and “Pin” buttons add original content.
Differences
- Instead of a profile page and Pin Boards, We Heart It users have a canvas and collections.
- We Heart It users can only “heart” photos, which automatically adds the photo to their canvas.
- Comments are not allowed on We Heart It to ensure no bullying, negativity or spam occurs.
- We Heart It users can tag photos; Pinterest users can add descriptions only.
Basically, We Heart It (now with 25 million monthly users) works and feels like a younger, artsier Pinterest. Images of beautiful celebrities and peaceful sunsets replace the wedding dresses and home cooked masterpieces synonymous with Pinterest. The owners are now considering outside investors. They’ve announced their first round of formal partnerships in December and currently have a half dozen partners, including publications like Teen Vogue and Lucky. These relationships are not financially-driven, but they do demonstrate that We Heart It is commanding outside interest from other brands.
Pinterest and We Heart It share another resemblance: they both recognize that at the end of the day they are a business and their survival will depend on their ability to generate revenue.
What are your thoughts on Pinterest versus We Heart It? Do you have an account on either platform? Which one do you prefer to use or do you use both of them? Let me know in the comments below or tweet me at @yuppitsdebbie. Feel free to follow me on Pinterest or We Heart It.
