Pinterest, a social network that lets people share things like recipes, has acquired Punchfork, a social network that lets people share recipes. This marks Pinterest’s first acquisition of another company, which is a big step in any young Internet startup’s life. It seems like only yesterday we were all clamoring to understand what exactly Pinterest was, but now it’s all grown up.
Pinterest has quickly become one of the biggest sites on the Internet by letting users easily keep track of and share different things on boards. Food pictures and recipes are popular things being shared on Pinterest, so it makes sense that they would acquire a site like Punchfork that meets a similar demand. Punchfork seems to be pretty happy with the whole situation. Their CEO Jeff Miller said on the company’s site yesterday:
We believe that a unified destination benefits our users in the long run, and the Punchfork team will focus on contributing to Pinterest as the premier platform for discovering and sharing new recipes and other interests on the web.
For now Punchfork users can continue using the site and its mobile app, but that won’t last, and they’ll have to start using Pinterest. There’s no word if Punchfork accounts will be absorbed automatically by Pinterest, but it’s probably in their best interest to make the transition as smooth as possible.
As Pinterest continues to grow, Punchfork could just be the first of many sites they acquire. Maybe next they can snap up Gentlemint.com, which touts itself as a place to “find and share manly things” to shake off the image that Pinterest is only for women.
(Punchfork via Business Insider)
- AppDate claims 97% of Pinterest users are women
- Though AppData also said Instagram lost 25% of its users on Christmas
- Pinterest is being sued by someone claiming they stole the idea
Published: Jan 4, 2013 03:00 pm