Where do you go to find new content, whether it’s for entertainment (hello, memes) or easy to digest news nuggets that make you sound informed at happy hour? For most people, the go-to platforms are Facebook and Twitter—but not for long. “Content discovery” is the bread and butter for many experts, bloggers, media outlets, and journalists. However, making sure it’s shareable can be a challenge, and actually figuring out where that content is being discovered is key.
Now that 2015 has arrived, it’s time to pinpoint to best new content discovery apps so you can be better informed, know how to design your own content for discovery on these platforms, and basically make sure you’re not missing out.
MSN News
MSN News got a makeover in December 2014, and was totally re-branded to let you “follow the news you choose”. From top stories to local news, editors (real humans) hand-select the leading news from around the world and your neighborhood. Content is comprehensive with categories ranging from offbeat to politics or entertainment, and information is curated from other leading media outlets around the globe. You can even customize topics, opts for breaking news alerts, and sharing is made easy on just about any social media platform.
As Tech Radar reports, Microsoft is moving at lightning speed going into the New Year, and their news sharing isn’t any different. Download (or update) your MSN app for comprehensive news coverage.
Flipora
This “smart” app figures out what kind of news and content you like, then customizes it for you. It’s like having a personal assistant hand-picking all the content that pops up first, so you don’t have to dig past boring or un-relatable content just to get to the good stuff. You can choose to follow users or interests, and make tweaks to personalized discovery yourself.
PCWorld says, Flipora “discovers your mood”, which results in the kind of content that strikes your fancy. It’s a great app to discover the world around you and find your personal mood content. It’s one of the best that I’ve used to find content that isn’t popular that you will like.
Nuzzel
When you only want news from your friends (and not every stranger around the world), you can “nuzzel” a little closer to your loved ones with this website/app. Curating content from your friends on Twitter and Facebook, there’s no being overwhelmed, no news shared or liked from people you don’t know, and no FOMO (fear of missing out). There are plenty of options for content curation from people you don’t know—but what about those you do? Simple, fast, clean and effective.
Reverb
This app sorts the latest top news for you and puts it on a “word wall” that’s simple and quick to use. Technically it launched in 2013, but it just became available for the iPhone in 2014. Get Top News, Social News, and My News all in one fell swoop. You can choose your own subjects for personalization (which means articles aren’t new, but they’re relevant to you), or simply go with breaking news feeds. Plus, when you select a topic, you’ll instantly get related topics at your disposal.
There are no ads, it’s clean and designed just for news junkies.
Flipboard
Flipboard is your go-to place for sharing, collecting and discovering with more than 34,000 topics at your fingertips. Dubbed a personal magazine, you’re able to discover content from around the world, but still enjoy that personalized approach that only having a single app can provide. Get your customized news delivered right to your smart device each day with this app, so you never have to wonder if you’re missing out.
Prismatic
With this app, you can follow all the interests and people who matter to you. It’s easy to find stories that are “buried” in many other major news outlets and you can vote like/dislike to help customize future content (and encourage community). Too busy to consume a story right now? Save it for later, or share it on major social media sites to get conversations started with friends.
Undrip
This self-described “mobile community” lets you share interesting links with zero checkins, games, or status updates. They’re about discovery, community, relevance, and some amazing features. Plus, it lets you connect all those social network accounts via a special algorithm that analyzes content your friends are loving so the “best” come to the top of your app feed. Interaction is a big part of Undrip, which is why comments, likes and other “engagements” are encouraged. The curators most in tune with your likes will be matched with you so you get a front row seat for their latest content. Enjoy noise elimination (who cares who’s playing which game?), get the freshest content first, re-share with easy, and tick off items as “Read” so they don’t keep popping up.
Pinterest
Believe it or not, Pinterest is actually a fantastic site/app for curation—it’s not just another social media platform in the sea of sharing, liking, and clicking. It’s where you can pin as a means of sorting your image curation, and also get access to some of the best, most innovative, popular, and even underdog images online. Plus, since you can personalize which pins you see, it’s easy to “perfect” the images delivered to you while simultaneously saving and sharing them yourself. With Pinterest, it’s not just about inspiration, it’s also about having a quickly growing library of goods on deck at all times.
Discovering content shouldn’t be challenging, boring,or a “task”—it should be fun and an easy way to stay in touch with your friends, followers, and those who share similar interests. That’s exactly what can be if you have the right app at your fingertips.
Tired of seeing hashtags galore or updates on Candy Crush levels? There’s more to content discovery than the basic social media platforms. Get exactly what you want, when you want it, and nothing more with content discovery apps created just for news hounds like you.
