Pinterest has a new global head of diversity. According to AdWeek, Nichole Barnes Marshall has been named the company’s new global head of diversity. She comes to the company from Bath & Body Works, where she served as chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer. But as AfroTech previously reported, Marshall will undoubtedly have a long road ahead of her. In January 2020, Pinterest released its annual report, where they claimed they were reaffirming its commitment to diversity and inclusion. But the numbers told a very different story: white people make up most of the total company employees (45 percent), with Asians closely following (44 percent). The figures representing other racial groups remain paltry, with Hispanic or Latinx individuals constituting six percent, followed by Black people at four percent. Alaska Natives and Pacific Islanders and employees of two or more races represent one percent of employees. Amidst the backlash surrounding this annual report that prompted...

The downside to social media, based on feedback from users, has most times been the lack of inclusion and amplification of diverse voices and faces on popular platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and more. On behalf of social media apps, image-sharing platform Pinterest has announced a new content policy that intends to embrace users of all kinds and grow the app to ensure it becomes a more “inclusive, positive and inspiring place,” TechCrunch reports. The outlet shares that Pinterest has formed a $500,000 Creator Fund — which is described as a new content policy called the Creator Code — and announced a slate of new moderation tools to enforce content guidelines that will require its pool of over 450 million Pinterest creators to fact-check their content, practice inclusivity, and ensure any call to action shared on the app will not cause harm to others. The newly-announced fund will specifically focus on uplifting creators from underrepresented communities across the U.S. and offer...

Pinterest, known for its DIY recipes, interior decorating ideas, and fashion tips is armoring itself against political and census misinformation and the 2020 presidential election. Although not among the big four social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube), Pinterest is making sure to avoid any blunders that its social media counterparts faced in the past. In 2019, Facebook came under heavy scrutiny regarding Black voter suppression tactics that flooded its platform in the midst of the 2016 presidential election. Pinterest told The Washington Post that it will take down any content that misinforms viewers about when, where, or how to vote. It will also remove any disinformation regarding the census. The Post reported: “‘This is an Internet problem,’” said Aerica Shimizu Banks, Pinterest’s lead for federal policy and social impact. The only way to address misinformation broadly, Banks adds, is for tech companies and government officials to work together.” Pinterest...

Facebook announced Thursday in a blog post that it is actively curbing anti-vaccine misinformation on its platform. The company said it will be providing its users with “authoritative” information on vaccines. Facebook said it will now remove ads that have vaccine misinformation and repeated violators’ accounts will be disabled. Groups and pages that promote anti-vaxer talking points will be subject to reduced rankings, and removed from suggested content and searches. The policies will also extend to Instagram. Ads and other content that contain vaccine misinformation will not be suggested on the platform’s discover and hashtag pages. Facebook is using studies and research provided by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify vaccine hoaxes in order to better keep track of misinformation campaigns. “We also believe in providing people with additional context so they can decide whether to read, share, or engage in conversations...

The thought of getting your brand elevated shouldn’t overwhelm you any longer. You already handled the hard part of starting your business, so let these easy-to-use, free social media marketing tools help you take that business to the next level. Even if you’re not trained in marketing or consider yourself on a strict budget, there are tools that can streamline your process so you’re working smarter, not harder. Check out some of the best below: 1. Buffer Buffer will help you manage your social media accounts — across platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google Plus and Pinterest. You can also analyze the performance of each post and manage multiple accounts (they have paid plans if you want to upgrade the number of accounts you’re managing within the platform). 2. TweetDeck TweetDeck is a classic in the social media marketing world, allowing users to create a custom Twitter experience, manage multiple accounts, create custom searches, track different hashtags...