Social Media Updates: January 2026

By Brittany Siminitz | January 12, 2026

Pinterest To Acquire tvScientific

Pinterest announced it is set to acquire tvScientific, a connected TV (CTV) performance advertising platform. “For the first time, Pinterest will combine its intent-rich audience signals with a CTV engine, so marketers can clearly measure how TV lifts the results of their performance ad campaigns,” it said in the announcement on Pinterest’s blog.

Pinterest plans to integrate tvScientific’s platform directly into Pinterest’s performance products, bringing high-intent audiences to CTV. “People plan and shop across multiple screens and advertisers need performance solutions that reflect that reality,” said Pinterest CEO Bill Ready in a statement. “For the first time, Pinterest advertisers will be able to evaluate TV with the clarity they expect from their performance channels. Looking ahead, advertisers will be able to buy TV with the performance metrics they are already using, turning Pinterest into a true search, social, and CTV performance solution. This is an exciting progression in our multi-year strategy to drive new sources of demand to Pinterest and begin to allow advertisers to reach our valuable audience beyond our platform.”

Pinterest reports it plans to scale tvScientific’s capabilities in the U.S. market before expanding it globally.

OpenAI to Acquire Pinterest?

In other acquisition-related Pinterest news, 2026 predictions by The Information amplified rumors that OpenAI is looking to acquire Pinterest as part of its expanded data push. The theory is that through Pinterest’s human-generated data insights, OpenAI would be able to build out a ChatGPT shopping tool and produce more ad revenue opportunities.

But the question is, What are the advantages to Pinterest for this acquisition? It already has its own AI-powered search tools, generates revenue, and utilizes its user-generated data in a number of successful ways. The obvious answer is money, of course, depending on what OpenAI might offer. Does the prediction have legs? Sure. But as a diehard Pinterest fan, I only hope it wouldn’t affect the ins and outs of the app for its users.

Instagram Implements New Hashtag Limit

In the ongoing debate over whether you can use too many hashtags on Pinterest, we finally have a clear answer: yes. Instagram is making it official by imparting a limit on hashtag usage, allowing users to top out at five in a caption for a reel or grid post.

“We find that using fewer (up to 5), more targeted hashtags rather than many generic ones can improve both your content’s performance and people’s experience on Instagram,” the platform said on Threads.

The tips go on to recommend being intentional with hashtag usage, using only related hashtags and avoiding irrelevant or generic hashtags like #reels or #explore.

See the rest of the announcement here.

Photo: Getty Images Plus/pressureUA