In a 2017 competitive assessment, Pinterest warned that Instagram was “taking direct aim at our core turf.” On cross-examination, Meta is working to show that Pinterest actually does see itself in direct competition with its products. At the time, Pinterest noted there was a “rapid increase in customer overlap” with Instagram and the app was even “replicating” some of its own features, like the ability to save pictures.
The FTC has asked several witnesses today about their trust and safety operations and infrastructure investments, which might be a way to show that even apps without Meta’s backing can maintain robust operations — just as Instagram might have. Roberts testifies, for example, that she’s not aware of any concerns that staying on AWS servers would limit Pinterest’s growth in the future.
The app changed its category in the Apple app store from social to lifestyle around 2018, Roberts testifies. “When users come to Pinterest expecting it to be like other social media apps, they tend to be confused about how to use the product since people are not really forefront of the experience,” she says — it’s more about finding things they’re interested in. “It just doesn’t set the right expectation if people have a mental model of another social media company when they come to Pinterest.”
For our third live social media witness of the day, Pinterest’s former director of product management Julia Roberts is testifying about how the app caters its product to users. The FTC is highlighting how Pinterest is focused around users’ interests, rather than connecting with friends and family — an element it says is core to Meta’s dominance. Roberts testifies, for example, that unlike on a platform like Instagram, “following is not a big part of the Pinterest experience.”
In a video deposition, Reddit executive Winter Raymond, who leads the company’s ads and commercial legal teams, says Reddit hasn’t considered offering a social networking services. Raymond says users come to Reddit to find their community, and says the ability to use pseudonyms is very important to its users.
Meta’s attorney asks essentially one question of Ortega on cross-examination: does Strava compete with Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter for workout content? Ortega says these apps “can compete for content related to workouts,” and then is excused from the stand.
Unless that baby is in a running stroller, Ortega testifies. He’s helping the FTC make an important point about why it thinks the market Meta monopolizes should be considered distinct from other kinds of social apps: even though users can upload whatever they want through Strava’s post feature, that doesn’t mean they will stray from the norms of the app. “It’s all about fitness, and while you can post other stuff, it just doesn’t seem as relevant,” Ortega says.
Former VP of connected partnerships Mateo Ortega takes the stand to talk about the fitness app. It’s the second witness today who the FTC hopes will help distinguish Facebook and Instagram from other social apps. Ortega says he doesn’t really think of Strava as a social network, though in marketing it’s described itself as one specifically for athletes.
While looking at a 2015 survey where nearly a third of US social media users said they come to Twitter to keep up with friends and family, Coleman says that likely represents a misunderstanding of the product at the time. He says the survey “predates” when the company took steps to clarify how it was different from other social platforms by focusing on helping people connect with their interests.
Meta’s attempt to characterize X as a closer competitor to Facebook and Instagram appears to backfire. Coleman is surprised at how X describes itself in its own help center as a “service for friends, family, and coworkers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages.” He says that’s not how most people would describe the service and says, “I don’t know who wrote that.” Coleman adds, “That’s pretty wacky.”