Social publishing and reading app Flipboard embraces interoperability with the federal universe.
Fediverse, a system of decentralized social networking services that includes Mastodon and video-sharing software PeerTube, allows independently operated social hub users to view and interact with each other’s content.
They will also have the opportunity to comment and respond to Flipboard posts. Flipboard plans to allow all of its users to follow anyone else elsewhere in the federal universe by April. In fact, Flipboard is gaining broader social media functionality, perhaps at the expense of existing social media giants.
Fediverse and systems such as Mastodon that connect through it are often seen as an alternative to private social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and X. Elon Musk’s leadership of X (formerly Twitter).
McCue compares the technology’s growth to the early days of the World Wide Web, which replaced walled online services like AOL. “The more I researched, the more I realized this was going to be absolutely revolutionary,” he says.
Flipboard allows users to create virtual magazines and storyboards from content they find interesting. Founded in 2010, the site was initially closely integrated with external social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, but as these sites began to restrict third-party access, it essentially created its own social ecosystem.
In January, when public Flipboard content can be accessed elsewhere in the federal universe, a new version of the company’s app will allow users to block problematic commenters from other servers, and Flipboard will monitor blocking trends to see whether it should take global action to filter some external servers. users or servers.
McCue said Flipboard plans to take steps to respect existing communities. And ultimately, as in the early days of the web, walled social networks will have no choice but to integrate to stay relevant, he says.
“It will be like 1994 again,” he says.