Millennials use Pinterest for finding the right wall art for their living rooms. Gen Z is using it to figure out who they are.
Ayumi Nakajima, a senior director at Pinterest in Singapore, who heads the company's Asia-Pacific content partnerships, told Business Insider that Gen Z use Pinterest very differently from older cohorts.
Gen Z is a big deal for Pinterest. The age group makes up 50% of the platform's 600 million monthly active users globally, a company representative told Business Insider.
Nakajima said that what she loves about Gen Z is that they value self-discovery and use Pinterest as a means to that end.
"For millennials, if you ask them what their styles or preferences were, you'd get a cheerleader or an athlete, or nerdy or gothic — you had sort of one label that you had to fit into," Nakajima said. "With our Gen Z audience, we're seeing that it's very different."
"So they're much more multifaceted, in that it's OK to be many of these things. A lot of what Gen Z users are searching for is things to do with aesthetics," she added.
She said that while millennials like herself are more likely to look for project-based inspiration on Pinterest, such as home renovations and wedding decor, Gen Zers are using it in a more targeted manner.
"For Gen Zs, instead of business casual, they might be looking for interview outfits," she said. "So even within the fashion category, we've seen different search terms trending across the generations."
"If it's in the home decor category, it's more about dorm room designs, or small room decor, for Gen Z," Nakajima added.
She said other search terms popular among Gen Z include journaling, Minecraft layouts, Labubu, and charm bracelets.
Collectible items like Labubu dolls, Lego sets, and Pokémon cards have exploded in popularity in recent years, as adults around the world turn to buying toys out of nostalgia.
"It's about what your hobbies are, and it's not about comparing yourself to others or worrying about how others perceive you," she said. "I think that's part of the magic of Pinterest, and also what keeps Gen Zs coming back."
