Over the last few months the most popular social networks have made some big changes to their platforms. Twitters updated their profile design. In February Facebook launched autoplay videos. Recently LinkedIn added ‘Showcase Pages’ and this week Pinterest announced they were adding ‘Guided Search’ to their platform.
Twitter’s profile design is aimed at encouraging more media sharing. Facebook’s aim is obviously to increase video sharing and their advertising arsenal. LinkedIn now wants companies to use ‘Showcase Pages’ to build audiences around specific products. Pinterest already have the media sharing aspect as it’s the core of their platform. By adding search, users may not have to leave Pinterest for other networks or Google to find what they want. With over 750m boards and a guided search tool to help you filter your results, it may be easier to find what you’re looking for or be inspired by the results.
What’s Guided Search?
In its simplest terms the Pinterest team put it perfectly on their blog by saying:
It’s made for exploring, whether you know exactly what you want, or you’re just starting to look around.
This new feature will allow users to search using keywords. Pinterest will then provide descriptive words to further refine the search and give the desired results. See how it works below.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DHxkoXR0RM?rel=0]
When is it available?
As per the official Pinterest blog. Mobile will take precedent, then web and global roll out will follow.
