Between the release of the app and Facebook’s 10th Birthday, you’ve probably heard of it: Paper. Yesterday I downloaded the app having no previous knowledge of what it held, and I have to say, I’m impressed. Paper is everything I wanted it to be and more, and quite frankly, I think it’s changed the current state of news media. So Happy 10th Birthday Facebook! Something tells me you’ll remember this one.
To those who, like me, weren’t originally sure what Paper is, Facebook is selling it as “Storytelling” (check out the website here). It connects with your Facebook feed to share updates “distraction free” and full screen.
This part of Paper is great, but what comes next is what makes it game-changing. When you start the app, it has you select topics that interest you, and then pulls news stories/updates from relevant sources. My favorite part? You only focus on one topic at a time, it doesn’t force an unnatural integration of this information. How I’m selling Paper is that it’s a customizable newspaper. And as a tech-savvy college student, that’s EXACTLY how I like my news.
So my question is when will large newspapers copy this idea? Obviously, it is too soon to tell, but I predict that Paper will be very successful in becoming a standard news source for Americans. The sleek layout and clean design is going to appeal to a very large audience, especially in my generation.
What are your thoughts? Is Paper a good move by Facebook? Or are they being too ambitious?
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