The latest in news technology is here, and it is in the form of Mike McCue and Evan Doll’s app for Android and iOS7, Flipboard. Flipboard combines the much-loved social aspect of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with Pinterest’s supply of inspiration to create an app where users can effectively build their own personal magazines according to what online articles interest them most.
Love film? Browse through Flipboard’s collection of movie-related articles and “flip” the ones you want to share with your subscribers or save to read later. You can create different magazines for each of your interests, so your love of cooking need not get in the way of a Quentin Tarantino review. Flipboard allows users to organize their flipped articles into as many different magazines as they want (similar to “boards” on Pinterest), so it is easy to simply search for a category and find a number of articles within it.
Flipboard does set itself apart from Pinterest in one key way: besides having interesting art pieces and new recipes, Flipboard is also a great way to stay up to date on local, national, and international news. After subscribing to any number of news-related magazines, a user may browse through an endless supply of articles regarding politics, international relations, or other current events. This app makes it easy for you to catch up on your news content for the day while sitting on the bus or catching your breath for a hot minute (I speak from experience).
For those of you who really don’t have a lot of free time during your day and who don’t want to sacrifice those precious Facebook-stalking minutes, Flipboard gives users the option of linking their accounts with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. In doing so, users’ Flipboard dashboards will display their news feeds for each of their social media accounts along with all the other content normally present (ie. articles about news, technology, art, etc.). The app also features an eye-catching “Cover Stories” section at the top of the dashboard which directs users to the most recent and relevant articles in their chosen categories, making it even easier to find only the content they enjoy.
Flipboard’s website suggests many ways in which this app may prove useful to a variety of people, including, though not limited to, educators, writers, and job-seekers. The app, while individual in the sense that each person runs his or her own magazine, also has the potential to be highly collaborative. Users may subscribe to each other’s magazines and share each other’s articles, thereby creating a forum to inspire and be inspired by their peers.
Though first released in 2010, Flipboard has earned very recent and very rapid popularity amongst students and professionals alike. The app seems to successfully combine social media with information in a format tailored to each user’s personal interests, making it the perfect go-to resource when on the move. As Flipboard’s fame grows, it will be interesting to find more and more practical uses for this all-encompassing app. Once you’ve signed up for Flipboard, don’t forget to install the “Flip it” button on your computer’s browser to quickly and easily flip all your favorite Quad articles!
