Pinterest’s new Home Feed tool lets users fine-tune the Pins they’ll see

Pinterest launched a new “Home Feed Tuner” on Tuesday that gives users more insight into what factors impact the content being surfaced in their home feeds and more control over what they see. The tool shows the boards, topics, followed accounts and recent history activity that determine recommendations in a user’s feed, and allows the user to remove these signals using an on/off toggle switch: “Flip on if you want to see more ideas, flip off if you’d rather not, whether because the content is sensitive or irrelevant.”

The tool can be accessed via a user’s settings or at pinterest.com/edit. There is also an option that lets users adjust their recommendations at the Pin-level.

Why we should care

Giving users more control over content recommendations could lead to higher engagement for brands on the platform. If users are able to adjust the signals that impact their home feed recommendations, Pinterest’s algorithm will more accurately surface content users want to see.

A better user experience could also result in more time spent on the platform and more branded and promoted content saved to boards.

“We approached this in the same way our engineers build recommendations on the backend, by handing a control panel over to the Pinner so she can tune her home feed and have the most relevant and inspirational experience possible,” said Pinterest’s head of Pinner Products Omar Seyal.

More on the news

• Pinterest’s “Home Feed Tuner” controls also give users the option to receive recommendations for their secret boards as well, which previously were excluded from recommendations.
• Users can turn on the feature by going directly to the pinterest.com/edit link or access it under the three-dots icon at the top of their home page on desktop. It is also available on Android and iOS.
• The feature will show why Pins showed up in feeds and allow users to give feedback if they don’t want to see them.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.

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About The Author

Amy Gesenhues

Amy Gesenhues was a senior editor for Third Door Media, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land, Search Engine Land and MarTech Today. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs, SoftwareCEO, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.