On 3rd February, one day before its completion of 10 years, Facebook announced the launch of Paper, a new app which helps you explore and share stories from friends and the world around you. Every now and then we miss great content because we are not subscribed to the right sources.
Paper, a standalone iOS news reader app was launched by Facebook which brings human and algorithm curated content in form of full screen articles and photos in categories selected by you. Your Paper is made of stories and themed sections based on your interests which you can follow. This new app will surface content from 19 different sections including sports, tech, pop culture and “LOL”.
The first section in the Paper is your Facebook News Feed where you can enjoy photos, videos and longer written posts. This is the same News Feed users are accustomed to on the native apps but with a new design. The top half of the screen shows big photos and videos and the bottom half shows updates and link stories. On tapping any one, it unfolds with animation to take up full screen where videos auto-play. Pinch a story and it folds back and returns you to the Paper feed.
Paper can be customised with a choice of more than a dozen other sections with a wide range of themes and topics such as photography, sports, food, science and design. Each section has a rich mix of content complied from various sources chosen by Facebook’s human editors and surfaced by Paper Algorithm that have been posted by a publication, blogger, public figure, expert in the respective field or an emerging voice.
The idea is to create a mix of content which could be coming from expert yet undiscovered bloggers, industry experts or the laymen. As of now, everyone who adds a section to their paper will see the same story in it but Facebook is considering personalising the sections so that you may see more of the section you are interested in.
Each section will have a rotating carousel of images across the top with individual cards and stories below that image. This app has larger images and content cards without the typical blue trim present on Facebook’s native apps. It allows exploring high-resolution panoramic photos where all important details can be seen up close. The App also allows the users to see what their posts look like before they are shared on Paper by using the preview feature. Paper also lets you share your own stories. For now, there will be no ads in Paper, but Facebook team is considering how they could be naturally integrated.
The biggest advantage and a distinguishing feature of Facebook’s Paper is that it allows content to be curated by incorporating both the human and the algorithmic elements. Normally on Facebook, you can see posts from friends and Pages you have subscribed to. In a traditional newspaper, articles are chosen by the editors which they think the readers wish to read and would enjoy. Hence, the readers rely on and trust the editor’s taste in going ahead and reading an article.
Paper works on a similar principle and shows content which you might have missed but has a lot of Likes or the Paper editor feels its newsworthy. Even though friends can act as curators of content but it is not necessary that everyone’s friends share content in the areas they are interested in. So, even if a person is interested in a particular topic say Business News, then Paper could deliver it to him without tracking the specific Pages to Like.
Facebook poses a threat to other news reader apps such as Flipboard, Prismatic, Circa and Pulse. Flipboard has magazines curated by other users. Prismatic relies on artificial intelligence to provide most relevant content. Facebook has the advantage of data on what the people share and it has utilised this information for content curation for Paper. However, how will things shape up for Paper as there have been some apps such as Camera and Poke which have failed to make a mark.
Paper was created by a 15 person team as a part of the initiative known as Facebook Creative Labs, a group of employees responsible for building these type of standalone apps. The Paper project was headed by Facebook’s VP Chris Cox, product managed by Micheal Reckhow and designed by Mike Matas.