With tech stocks experiencing a resurgence in the market, social media platform Pinterest is said to be now looking to make its initial public offering (IPO) later this year, shifting the company's performance data into the public eye and potentially changing the way it operates moving forward.

Going public may change how almost any business is run; it can't be overstated how impactful it can be, particularly in the case of social media companies because their businesses are so totally exposed to the public. For some it's been the best of times -- as it has been for Facebook since its flotation back in 2012. Not so for others, however. Twitter has, at times struggled under increased market scrutiny, so much that it is still trying to change the narrative around active users and how it cannot compare with Facebook, but Snap Inc also came under more intense pressure since listing in 2017, forcing it to change its broader trajectory.

Of course, both Twitter and Snapchat have been in more direct comparison with Facebook - which has sought to crush both at different times - whereas Pinterest has been working to distance itself from the same. For the last few years, Pinterest has been repeatedly noting that it is not a social network, describing itself as 'a discovery engine' and 'a catalog of ideas'. That makes sense, few would argue that the social elements of Pinterest are as prevalent as they once were, but the statement also seeks to re-focus the narrative around the company, so that its 250 million monthly active user count is not displayed on graphs beside, say, Facebook-owned Instagram, which currently sees 4x that amount.

(And worth noting too, Snap Inc. tried to do the same prior to its IPO by rebranding itself as 'a camera company'. It didn't work).

With Pinterest's somewhat clearer evolution along these lines, it will benefit from moving away from the Facebook comparison, though that comparison will persist, and a public listing, as noted above, brings with it all sorts of new scrutiny.

And there is another threat for Pinterest. Even though it tries to differentiate itself from Facebook, product discovery belongs to another tech behemoth - Google.

Michelle Castillo of Cheddar summed up the risk in this area.
Where Pinterest will look to increase ad revenue is through direct response, on-platform purchases and improved contextual discovery, through use of tools like its newly automated 'Shop the Look' Pins and evolving visual search capability.
Google is also scouting ahead to expand its options on similar lines, and after Pinterest is listed, and facing further pressure from the markets, Google might take a Facebook step forward and start leveraging the situation by developing and promoting its own version.

Google is already tracking Pinterest in this regard - last year, Google launched an updated image search layout, which uses a Pinterest-like format, including additional, contextual search tabs to further refine your search.
Google's real concern on this front would seem to be Amazon, which provides more direct shopping options, but if Pinterest began to take market share, Google could easily shift its focus and squeeze the visual discovery platform. And Pinterest will need to continue taking market share in order to grow and win investor confidence.

So how will that change Pinterest? It’s hard to say - as noted with Snapchat, market pressures can change a company’s trajectory, and hinder future development.

Snapchat has more recently been forced to re-assess its operations, reducing staff numbers and tempering it’s more ambitious plans - like, for example, the development of Spectacles. Pinterest has done very well with its development of Lens visual search option and its engineering team really does hit above its weight on visual recognition and product matching. Its gradual evolution bodes well for it, in terms of ongoing prospects, but market listing does come with a level of risk.

At some stage, the opportunity to raise capital and invest in future growth is impossible to ignore, but it will be interesting to see what happens to Pinterest moving forward as a result.

Pinterest is reportedly planning to launch its IPO this June.