Dive Brief:

• Pinterest is dropping its Like button after internal research found users better understand the platform without it, the company announced in a blog post. Existing Likes aren't going away, however, as each user will get a new private board on their profile called "Your Pinterest Likes" that will catalog all previously liked pins. 
• Pinterest is also pushing a focus on its Save button, which allows users to go back to old ideas and gives the platform a better sense of what users are interested in.
• Recode reported that the news comes as part of Pinterest's push to no longer be considered a social network like Facebook or Instagram. “While other companies want you to live in a virtual world, Pinterest encourages people to live in the real world,” a spokesperson told the publication. "There are many services out there with the mission of helping you connect and share with friends; we’re the one app exclusively in the visual discovery business."

Dive Insight:

Pinterest has quietly grown to fill its own marketing niche, and the latest update shows the platform putting a premium on a seamless and intuitive browsing experience, as many users were reportedly confused in separating the difference between Liked and Saved Pins.

Recode additionally notes that it's possible Pinterest is attempting to highlight its distinct value as a "visual discovery business" ahead of a potential initial public stock offering. Bloomberg reported that Pinterest is launching its first U.S. advertising campaign this summer with the intention of getting people to "understand that Pinterest isn't a social network," CEO Ben Silbermann told the publication. 

At a time when Facebook and Instagram continue to grow and Snapchat commands most of the social conversation, Pinterest has been relatively quiet while continuing to innovate and pivot focus toward marketing-ready products. In February, the platform rolled out a visual search tool powered by a technology called Pinterest Lens that allows users to discover and shop products they see in Pin images.

The offering echoed a similar tap-and-shop feature from Instagram, a photo-sharing app that has the same bent toward fashion and lifestyle photography that Pinterest does.