Pinterest is expanding its efforts to combat COVID-19 misinformation in Pins, and partnering with various health bodies to help ensure that Pinners are able to access accurate, reliable information about the vaccine rollout.
As explained by Pinterest:
“We have been at the forefront of combating health misinformation and ensuring Pinners have access to reliable third-party sources for several years. In fact, we were one of the first platforms to implement a policy prohibiting health misinformation, including vaccine falsehoods, in 2017. As a visual platform reaching more than 450 million monthly active Pinners worldwide, tackling health misinformation continues to be a priority.”
Amid the expanding vaccine roll-out, Pinterest is adding a range of new partnerships and initiatives into its efforts, including new information linked to COVID-related searches.
Those efforts will also expand to include updated initiatives around the roll-out:
“To further promote educational content from authoritative sources whenever users search COVID-19 vaccine-related content, Pinterest will be providing paid media to the AdCouncil in support of its national COVID-19 vaccine awareness campaign “It’s Up to You.” Through this partnership, the AdCouncil will encourage audiences on Pinterest to get the latest vaccine information – understanding that personal education is the first step in building vaccine confidence.”
Pinterest is also looking to showcase information from the Association for Healthcare Social Media (AHSM) in Story Pins on the Today tab, while it’s also partnering with AHSM on efforts to further raise awareness about the importance of vaccination, and dispel myths.
Pinterest is also offering paid media, creative resources, and support for medical organizations serving underrepresented communities “to amplify and elevate reliable third-party COVID-related resources on Pinterest”.
Pinterest may seem like a lesser consideration in this respect, as you would assume that not many Pinners are using the platform as a news source, but the more that can be done to connect people with authoritative, accurate information about the vaccine, the better.
Pinterest is now up to 459 million active users, with its reach expanding steadily. Given this, it’s important for Pinterest to cater to such queries, and these new initiatives will help ensure Pinners are getting key information in the app.