First "Story Pins"... now this. Pinterest wants to be more than just an inspo board for your French chateau-style dream kitchen. It launched a Stories feature in September, copy-catting Snapchat (then again... who hasn't?). Now, it's getting into online events:
- Pinterest is testing a new feature that lets people sign up for Zoom classes. It was discovered by reverse engineering pro Jane Manchun Wong (legend).
- Creators can reportedly use "class boards" to organize course materials and chat with attendees. Think: latte art designs and mindfulness meditation how-tos.
A pandemic pinner... is a pandemic winner. E-learning isn't totally new territory for Pinterest. Since lockdowns hit, teachers have used it to organize remote learning resources, from lesson plans to activities. Wild stat: during a single weekend in March, Pinterest saw more global searches and saves than ever in its history. And it's still #pinning:
- Pinterest's sales jumped 58% last quarter, and users grew 37% to 442M.
- Pinterest stock has more than tripled in value this year.
Tech is taking over "Experiences"... From virtually rolling pasta with an Italian grandma to meditating with Buddhist monks from your couch — tech companies are uniquely poised to quench our pandemic thirst to do something. Airbnb has doubled down on the virtual "Experiences" side of its biz, and even managed to turn a profit last quarter. Amazon launched a copycat digital experiences product called "Amazon Explore" in September. And MasterClass raised $100M in May on the success of its virtual "Edu-tainment."