Seventy percent of Pinterest users are based in the United States. The site more than doubled its international users last year. The $5 billion company is trying to attract more users in Asia and Europe. The trouble is in the translation. Sure, the site is mainly images, but the cultural nuances haven’t hit the pin. Recently, Pinterest’s homepage featured a recipe for a chorizo garlic shrimp burger, wedding hairstyles, and ideas for pretty tattoos. None of these is universal.
What is Pinterest doing? Striving to understand how other cultures use the Internet and deciding where to tweak the site to match. Pinterest employees have been encouraging local fashion and cooking bloggers to publish on the site. In the U.S., Pinterest began charging for ad space, and since the site is built around the products people like and buy, it should have plenty to invest in growth abroad.
*Check out the article from Bloomberg Businessweek, “Can Pinterest Be Found in Translation?”
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