Cutting through the crap to bring the internet to me

 

In a recent post on the launch of Windows 8 and the Surface tablet we talked about the rising popularity of content aggregators, and how they were effectively bringing the internet to us, rather than making us surf and search like in the old days. Microsoft have put a lot of time and effort in to their latest release and whether you're a fan or not the fact that they have gone down this path points to their belief that content aggregation and curation is the way of the future.

Effectively the new evolution of the humble RSS feeds, these apps are sometimes referred to as social magazines, content aggregators or curators. They work in various ways with some pulling content based on an algorithm whilst others use a team of curators. Some have relationships with publishers whilst others have chosen to go it alone. Zite and Flipboard have established themselves in this space, whilst newcomer Rockmelt has emerged as a serious challenger. 











Zite

Flipbook

Rockmelt

I’ve tried a number of them but and they're all good. For no reason other than personal choice, I’ve become a regular user of Flipboard. And I have to admit, it has radically changed my browsing habits; providing the depth of relevant news and information I want on daily basis, whilst opening me up to a range of content that I’d otherwise be missing out on. On top of that pulls in all of my social media feeds.

So now, rather than waking up in the morning and checking out a number of sites (smh, theaustralian, foxsports) and social platforms (Facebook) I simply open up Flipboard on my phone or tablet (depending on which one my kids haven’t gotten to first!). I then literally browse, or flip, through hundreds of pieces of content: Facebook and Twitter feeds, news from Australia and around the world on a range of preferred topics, music, entertainment, tech and digital trends and much more.

 

I can select from Flipboard’s already curated feeds across a range of different categories or browse and choose from a range of media, publishers and brands, and add them to my Flipboard. The design, layout and experience feels fresh, and it is an enjoyable experience with most of the content presented well within the app. In some instances you are taken to the full original article on a site embedded within the app which feels clunky, but these instances are relatively small. Watch a quick example of how Flipboard works below.

 



It leaves me feeling I'm up to date on everything I need to be, but it hs also become my source for randomness in my ‘found time’, when I have five minutes to spare and I’m looking for something to entertain me…there’s never any shortage of interesting things to see.

As the internet continues to be filled with more and more content, much of which isn’t very good, we’re going to rely more heavily on personalised curation (manual or machine) to do the searching for us and provide fast and easy access to what interests us most.

The challenge: Up until now, users have searched the web to find content that they are interested in. As advertisers, we simply found the sites they were finding and put ads there. Users now have the opportunity to avoid wasting on time surfing, and have a middle man that’s helping with that task, pulling all of the content into the user, on whatever device they choose at whatever time. No doubt advertising models will be created within these environments, but they’ll have to fight hard to win attention. The greater opportunity for us is to provide content that the user is interested in so we are being pulled in as desired content, rather than advertising. To do that successfully, we’ll not only have to deliver strong, relevant content, but deliver it regularly, as users become accustomed to expecting a high volume of snackable content coming in frequently.