Pinterest killing its 'Like' button because it isn't a social network

Pinterest wants you to know that it isn't a social network like Facebook or Instagram. And to prove that point, the visual discovery startup is killing off its “Like” button claiming that people often confuse it with the 'Save' button despite the fact that two serve a completely different purpose.

So, Pinterest will be taking away the Like button in the coming weeks, to give more emphasis on its Save button.  In a blog post, content strategist, Kim O’Rourke explained, "The good thing about the Save button is the ideas you save are easy to get back to later. Not only can you organise Pins to different boards, but you can search for them too. And every time you save something, we get a clearer sense of what you’re into and can show you better ideas."

In a statement to Recode, Pinterest also hinted that it wanted to set itself apart from the competition, such as Facebook and Instagram. The statement reads, “While other companies want you to live in a virtual world, Pinterest encourages people to live in the real world. We like to say, be yourself and not your selfie. There are many services out there with the mission of helping you connect and share with friends; we’re the one app exclusively in the visual discovery business.”

If you think, you might lose many of your pins in the process, fret not. For those who have liked pins thinking that they were saves, not to worry as Pinterest will be saving pins users liked into a separate private pinboard so that you can always go back to them at a later date.