Earlier this week we wrote an article about the future of newspapers and where the future was heading. Two days after we wrote that article another new iPad app has entered the market (and gone straight to the No.1 spot in the app store) which further develops the idea of ‘personalized news’.
We stated in the post that until apps allowed users to customize what content they wish to appear in their digital publications apps, only then would we see a new channel to market emerge for digital newspapers. And then….. Wednesday arrives, enter Flipboard.
This new app gives iPad users their very own ‘social magazine’ of which they are the editor. The app builds an online magazine from the user’s top online sources such as Twitter and Facebook by displaying the news that their friends and people they follow are posting/tweeing into the user’s very own social digital magazine. We’ve talked before that readers now have more choice and a voice to be heard than ever, relevancy is the keyword.
On the subject of relevancy, as social networks expand and I get more and more ‘friends’ it can be argued that not all the content posted by my friends will be relevant – particularly as my network grows. The app works with logic algorithms that find the content that is most likely to appeal to the reader – items that have lots of comments, likes, or tweets.
We’ve downloaded this app, and first impressions we’re impressed. It’s not just the idea of relevant content that makes the app appealing, they have also put usability into practice which makes the experience seamless and easy to use – even for a first-timer.
Social News makes for exciting times for readers, a publication that brings together all the content that they would previously had to visit multiple sites and click though a mountain of links to reach. If this truly is the future of news then publishers have to rise to this opportunity. Publishers need to ensure content is engaging, focused and targeted for it to gain virtual space in social magazines.
