Using correct terminology to describe different groups is extremely important (and it comes up a lot in areas like marketing materials and internal communications). When in doubt or when looking for something more specific, email the D+I team; you can also refer to A Progressive’s Style Guide
Specific terms for group identification...
- Refer to a group as specifically as possible
- Capitalize Black and White
- LGBTQ+
- Native American
- When discussing size: use “fat positivity” rather than “body positivity”
- With the exception of Millenials, the focus of much of our trend reporting, refer to ages by ranges and numbers rather than generations
- Latin (rather than LatinX or Latino/Latina)
- Genders: Man/men, woman/women, Non-binary, custom (“male/female” is about biological sex, not gender)
- Don’t call an individual “diverse” (“This diverse Peruvian millennial”...ick!)
- When using the term “ethnic minorities,” consider if you’re referring to an international or US population. What is an “ethnic minority” isn’t the same in the US and worldwide!
Tips on how to approach certain topics...
- Make sure we never sound like we’re recommending or endorsing a diet
- When talking about gender, include multiple options beyond men/women
- Consider that some nuance can be lost in translation, so follow up with your contact from the international team with questions
- Avoid using “the” in front of a group (“the young,” “the blacks,” “the lesbians,” etc.)
- Rather than referring to someone as able/disabled, refer to a person as “someone with ______”
- Avoid terms like “multicultural,” “diverse,” and “post-racial;” they tend to overpromise
- Make sure photos we choose represent people across genders, races, cultures, shapes and ages (that last one can get left out!)
- Avoid writing “weight loss success stories” when highlighting Pinner stories or advertising use cases.
- Instead, frame your story around fitness, health and overall wellness.
- When writing about health, never use numbers to call out pounds/inches lost, clothing sizes, or calories burned (i.e. “lost 25 pounds,” “used to weigh 250 pounds,.” etc.)
- women in urban Ethiopia
- people ages 30-39
- Explore keto and paleo recipes
- My gender is non-binary
- Tiffany, who uses a wheelchair,
- ethnic minority/underrepresented minority/people of color
- African women
- Ethiopians
- Gen Xers
- elderly Pinners
- *If you must use a decade-y phrase because a sales report requires it (for example, Millennials), refer to Grammar Girl’s guide to title casing.; Opens a new tab
- Try these keto recipes
- Lose weight with these keto ideas
- My gender is other
- Tiffany, who is physically disabled,
- minority
Legal language
Even when we’re talking in the fine print, we should still be straightforward and conversational.
Talking about privacy
Use “private” or “privacy” for personal information issues only. Don’t refer to board settings or posts as “private”—say “secret” instead.
Talking about Pinterest Business
“Pinterest Business” refers to our business marketing programs and channels. It is NOT a master brand for products or partnerships. For example, you’d say “Read the latest updates on the Pinterest Business blog” or “Visit the Pinterest Business page.” You wouldn’t say “Our latest products from Pinterest Business.” In that case, it’s just “Pinterest.” For more information about when to use “Pinterest Business” and when to use “Pinterest,” refer to our brand guidelines.
Talking about 'Pin'
To protect our trademark for Pin, we have to be thoughtful in how we use the word “Pin” in all of our writing. Within the UI, consider if it might be better to use “Pin” or “idea” for clarity.
- Write Pin:
- When someone’s familiar with the UI (lens, tried it…), and “Pin” most accurately describes the functionality
- When someone is sending a Pin as a message (“Send a Pin to a friend” is clearer than “Send an idea to a friend”)
- When giving technical advice to businesses (“Upload your Pin” > “Upload your idea”)
- Write idea:
- When someone is new to Pinterest or may be unfamiliar with what a Pin is (unauthorized page views, activation, many emails and notifications)
- When explaining what Pinterest is (home feed, unauth, etc.)
- Use a mixture of both Pin and idea:
- When it would be redundant to have the word “idea” repeat multiple times throughout the same surface: Can you mix “idea” and “Pin,” or find ways to reword the copy and CTA so that you don’t need to use either?
Feature naming
Before you pick a proper name for a new feature, consider if it even needs it. New names clutter up the experience and add to the Pinner’s cognitive load, so the bar for introducing new terminology should be high. Most products/features don't actually need to be called anything (like, "send a Pin" is an action, not a proper Send-a-Pin name).
You can also use a Namestorm document to help develop and present a recommended name.
- Consider what’s industry standard
- Use parallel construction
- Be clear, conversational and descriptive—feature names should capture what the feature is/does in a way that makes sense to real people
- Choose a name that works throughout all instances in the interface, across all platforms and contexts
- Always use lowercase letters for the new name in UI
- In longform writing, like if you’re announcing an official product release or writing product tips, follow the capitalization that was used in the launch documentation. Depending on the product, that might be title case (ex: Promoted Video) or it might be sentence case (ex: Save button).
- Don’t clutter up our experience with confusingly similar terminology (like “recommendations” AND “suggestions”)
“Pinterest Business” refers to our business marketing programs and channels. It is NOT a master brand for products or partnerships. For example, you’d say “Read the latest updates on the Pinterest Business blog” or “Visit the Pinterest Business page.” You wouldn’t say “Our latest products from Pinterest Business.” In that case, it’s just “Pinterest.”
For more information about when to use “Pinterest Business” and when to use “Pinterest,” refer to our brand guidelines.
Using "inspiration"
What we mean by “inspiration”: Ask someone what inspires them, and their mind goes to heroic figures like Olympic athletes or people who’ve overcome great hardships. They don’t usually think of a chicken recipe. But on Pinterest, that’s exactly what counts as inspiring. From small, everyday stuff like chicken recipes, all the way to big-life ideas that get you bicycling across the country or send your career in a new direction. Anything that sparks you to try something new, or think about life in a new way, or spend a meaningful moment with the people you care about—that’s inspiration on Pinterest.
A little “inspiration” goes a long way: It can be tempting to start peppering “inspiration” across all our experiences (it’s right there in our mission statement!), but much like how we limit the use of Pinterest red in our app and marketing, we don’t splash “inspiration” everywhere. Instead we use it sparingly and thoughtfully.
- Good: Use “inspiration” in super high-level descriptions of our company in the press:
- Example 1—The inspiration company
- Example 2—Pinterest is the home of inspiration
- Even better: Let other people do the describing. When we claim to be “inspirational,” it sounds less believable than it does coming from an outside source. Much better to leave it to the people who actually made Pinterest the go-to spot for inspirational ideas in the first place: Our Pinners!
- Example 1—Pinner mindset video tagline: “Inspired on Pinterest”
- Example 2—Directly quoting Pinners: “I love looking at Pinterest for art inspiration.”
- Talking to advertisers: A big part of the inspiration people discover on Pinterest comes from businesses.
- Example—“Pinterest is a positive place where people get paired with the inspiration to create a life they love—including products, experiences and other inspiration from businesses.”
- Don’t clutter up our experience with confusingly similar terminology (like “recommendations” AND “suggestions”)
Using "you" and "me"
The you/me debate has raged throughout product writing circles for years, and the writing team here at Pinterest had done its own share of epic mulling on the matter.
Where we landed: It’s Pinterest standard to talk to “you” vs. speaking on your behalf (“me”). That’s because Pinterest is all about YOU.
This rule is how we make sure we’re consistently addressing you in the same way across our interface and marketing. Our (now old!) mission = “help you discover and do what you love.” When you first sign up, we ask what topics “you” are into. Recommended Pins are “picked for you” or “inspired by your boards.” And when you search for stuff you saved, you’re looking through “your Pins.”
First person-y lingo is reserved for the rare times when Pinterest speaks on its own behalf (“we found some new ideas for you”).
- See your new board
- Your profile
- Keep your board secret
- See my new board
- My profile
- Keep my board secret