Flipboard’s new ‘social websites’ help publishers and creators tap into the open social web

Flipboard on Thursday introduced social web sites, a new manner for creators and publishers to construct their very own areas on the web.

These social web sites are constructed round conversations already going down throughout the open social web, which incorporates decentralized platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky, in addition to different public web content material.

Social web sites deliver collectively social posts, movies, podcasts, newsletters, and different conversations into a single vacation spot that creators management, Flipboard says. You can consolidate profiles and posts from Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, YouTube, podcasts, blogs, and RSS feeds into a single vacation spot.

Flipboard sees social web sites as a new mannequin for social media, the place communities have extra possession and management over how content material and conversations are organized. The firm, which has embraced decentralized social media over the previous few years, is now seeking to make it simpler for publishers and creators to entry the open social web.

“Social websites help podcasters, creators and publications build communities around their work and control the experience, including the algorithm,” Flipboard CEO Mike McCue stated in a weblog submit. “Rather than starting a community from scratch, creators can use social websites to easily bring together the people and conversations that are already happening around their podcasts, videos and newsletters across the social web.”

The launch of social web sites marks the first web-based extension of Surf, Flipboard’s reader app that enables customers to browse and discover the open social web. The firm notes that social web sites are powered by Surf feeds.

Flipboard has already partnered with publishers and creators who’ve created their very own social web sites. Publishers, together with The Verge, Wired, Rolling Stone, 404 Media, and The Oregonian have created social web sites the place readers can comply with journalists, podcasts, movies, and conversations in a single hub. Creator David Rushing created All Net, a social web site for NBA followers that brings collectively basketball conversations, league information, movies, and real-time recreation commentary.

To create a Surf feed, customers have to go to surf.social, enroll, and click on the “+ Create Feed” choice in the sidebar. They then have to comply with the prompts so as to add sources, assign a neighborhood hashtag, and set filters to customise their feed.

Once the feed is ready up, the proprietor can assign a customized area through the feed header’s three-dot menu to create a social web site that they will share with others. Flipboard says social web sites are designed to reside past Surf, as they are often shared throughout the web. 

“By combining content and conversations from across social platforms, Surf social websites become destinations to keep up on anything you’re interested in,” Flipboard explains. “And this is just the beginning. More customization tools are on the way, including custom headers, colors and additional feed management features.”