Pinterest courts Gen Z by giving users a choice of gender pronouns

Image sharing platform Pinterest will let its 475 million regular users choose their own gender pronouns from a list of nine options, following similar moves by other social media networks. This site basically allows users to pin or save pictures, GIFs or videos to curated pinboards.

The company announced that this change reflected a sharp increase in searches about sexuality and gender identity among the so-called Generation Z users where people born after 1997. Members of Gen Z increasingly identify as LGBT+. Pinterest joins Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn in offering non-binary options on account profiles. Once this change is rolled out, Pinterest users will be able to pick pronouns ranging from he/him or she/her to Xe/Xem or Ze/Zir.

Facebook had announced in 2014 that a new custom gender option will be available to help express users, their own identity. A February Gallup poll of more than 15,000 American adults found that almost 16% of Gen Z respondents said they were LGBT+. But the changes in language have provoked controversy. Peter Sokolowski, editor-at-large for the U.S. Merriam-Webster dictionary, told that while most English speakers accepted language changed over time, they don’t accept the changes made in their own time.

Pride Month is celebrated in June across the world. Pinterest said that searches for terms such as pansexual, which means someone who is attracted to people regardless of their gender, had risen 85% over the past year.