Pinterest throws subtle shade at Facebook in IPO filing

Image: Kim Kulish / getty

Pinterest is not happy with Facebook. 

The forgotten middle child of the social media family filed for an IPO on March 22, and in doing so the San Francisco-based company made a very public argument that its future is bright. That is, if Facebook doesn’t screw things up for it first. 

Buried deep in the pages and pages of IPO-related disclosures resides a friendly little section called “RISK FACTORS.” The section contains a lot of standard, boilerplate stuff about how things might not work out how the company hopes, and that investors should be warned that nothing in life is a sure bet. Which, totally. It also, however, has a lot of what look to be pretty Facebook-specific digs.

“[The] increase in news about online privacy may motivate Pinners to take more aggressive steps to protect their privacy,” reads the filing. “Pinners may elect not to allow data sharing for a number of reasons, such as data privacy concerns. This could impact our ability to deliver relevant content aligned with Pinners’ personal taste and interests.”

Gee, we wonder why news about online privacy has increased in the recent past. If only there was something specific at which we could point our fingers. Oh, yeah. 

“Additionally,” continues the Pinterest filing, “the impact of these developments may disproportionately affect our business in comparison to certain peers in the technology sector that, by virtue of the scope and breadth of their operations or user base, have greater access to user data.”

In other words, companies like Facebook are so big that they’re more or less insulated from the consequences of their actions. Pinterest, on the other hand, argues it may not be. 

But Pinterest isn’t just worried that Facebook’s repeated privacy-violating debacles have spoiled social media users’ trust for everyone else. The company also appears to be nervous about another favorite Mark Zuckerberg pastime: ripping off other companies’ core features. 

“There are many factors that could negatively affect user growth, retention and engagement,” continues the filing, “including if: our competitors mimic our products or product features, causing Pinners to utilize their products instead of, or more frequently than, our products, harming Pinner engagement and growth.”

This is not a baseless fear. It was just last month that we learned of Facebook-owned Instagram’s likely plan to steal a key Pinterest feature. And then there’s what happened to Snapchat. 

Obviously, Pinterest is paying close attention to its older sibling and wants you to know that it saw the big blue jerk coming.