Does Pinterest Pose a Threat to Facebook's IPO?

Pinterest has become one of the hottest social media platforms attracting more than 17 million visitors and recently became the fastest standalone website to eclipse the 10 million visitors-per-month mark. With Facebook, expected to go public on May 18, investors and the social media community ask if Pinterest poses a threat to Facebook and wonder how it will impact their IPO.

 

“Pinterest serves as an example as to how social media titans are vulnerable to small startups that find the right niche,” states Kenneth Wisnefski, social media expert and founder / CEO of WebiMax. “This vulnerability doubts the confidence people once had in Facebook’s long-term growth potential.”

 

Referring to Pinterest’s visual content and social sharing capabilities, Pinterest has found a niche that directly competes against Facebook’s photo and video-sharing features.

 

Wisnefski also feels that Facebook’s stock price will soar in the beginning of the trading session, however once investors look closely at their fundamentals they will realize that Facebook really lacks a solid revenue stream (90% of revenue stems from advertising).

He goes onto assert that Facebook’s dependency on advertising revenue in addition to its vulnerability from smaller social media firms, like Pinterest, decreases confidence in the long-term sustainable growth that was once expected.

 

“Pinterest’s ease of use makes it more attractive to small businesses and we have already seen small business marketers shift toward using Pinterest and divert away from Facebook,” Wisnefski notes. “If this is sustained, consumers may gravitate toward Pinterest versus Facebook.”