Facebook Aims to Take on Pinterest With ‘Collections’

by Nate Wooley | October 9, 2012 11:36 am

Social media giant Facebook (NASDAQ:FB[1]) is testing a new retail feature — dubbed “Collections” — that also horns in on the market of popular social media site Pinterest.

The addition of new buttons to the popular website will be focused toward retail products, with three new buttons are being tested, according to TechCrunch[2]:

• “Want”: Adds products to the “Wishlist,” which can be seen by your extended network.
• “Collect”: Adds products to your “Products” collection, which can be seen only by your friends.
• Special “Like” Button: Will add to “Products,” but can be seen by extended network.

Pottery Barn (NYSE:WSM[3]) is one of the first to establish a “collection” on Facebook. Other retailers testing the feature are Limited Brands‘ (NYSE:LTD[4]) Victoria’s Secret, Neiman Marcus and Fab.com. Retailers are not being charged for the posting of collections, and Facebook is not taking a cut of the proceeds. The social media company hopes that by encouraging users to like products and companies, data can be leveraged for greater growth.

Meanwhile, Facebook is digging out of one of its other recent advertising concepts. Facebook has just offered to expand its settlement of a class-action suit concerning “sponsored stories” wherein users’ likenesses were used to promote companies and products without the users’ knowledge. After an earlier settlement was rejected, Facebook has proposed a new settlement of $20 million that includes provisions for cash payments of up to $10 per affected user and greater guarantees of user privacy and protection.

More from the world of social media:

• ‘New’ MySpace: Can they Really Rebuild It?[5]
• Facebook Gets Religion About Monetization[6]
• LinkedIn Makes Facebook-Like Enhancements[7]

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/10/facebook-aims-to-take-on-pinterest-with-collections/

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