Pinterest Goes Hindi – A Belated Holi Gift to Indian Social Media Users

If you have logged into Pinterest today and greeted by a “Namaste” written in Hindi, don’t be startled. This is not an April fool’s day gag! Pinterest has added ‘Hindi’ to its list of language options today, thereby launching the Hindi version for its ever-growing Indian user base. So what’s this noise all about and what changes do we actually get to see from today? Read on to know more –

The high points of these changes are as follows –

• In the Hindi version users can log into Pinterest and create, search and share pins in the Indian national language Hindi.
• All they have to do is to tweak their profile settings a bit.
• The steps include clicking on the ‘settings’ tab and choosing ‘Hindi’ from ‘preferred language’ dropdown list and click on ‘save changes’ to activate the Hindi version. 

With the addition of Hindi now Pinterest supports 24 of world’s premier languages

Why this sudden inclusion of Hindi in Pinterest?

Well, the experts are saying that Pinterest, although not as popular as Facebook or Twitter in India is slowly and gradually coming in the front row, in terms of popularity, among Indian social media users. In 2013, a study by media group Semiocast showed that India ranks 10^th in terms of the number of worldwide Pinterest users with US topping the chart followed by the UK. However, with smartphones becoming the next big thing to grab for the average Indian consumer, Pinterest usage in India has doubled in the last 6 months. This must have been the signal that the Pinterest management was long waiting for, and hence the inclusion of Hindi.

The upcoming parliamentary elections in India might also be a catalyst, as a reputed journalist remarked in a tweet earlier today. Pinterest being essentially a photo sharing medium and with increasing number of political cartoons and memes circulating in the social web in the build up to the elections, Pinterest will play a big role, as now Non-English speakers too would take advantage of Pinterest just like they do with Facebook, another industry veteran remarked.

Only time will tell the impact of this change, but as for the commoners it’s a welcome post- Holi treat! So what are you waiting for? Roll up your sleeves and start pinning in Hindi.