Is Facebook Paper short for Facebook NewsPaper?
Thursday’s unveiling of a new standalone content curation app, Facebook Paper, comes after weeks of speculation and rumors about Facebook hiring editors (the humans in the mix) to help curate content for the hyper-visual mobile app. Now it’s real, though not here yet. Facebook Paper arrives in the AppStore on Feb. 3. That leaves us a few days to speculate on what Facebook is really up to and if, in fact, this is the social media giant ever-so-gingerly dipping its toe into the contentcreation / media company waters.
First, though, a little primer on the app. Think of it as Facebook Magazine, a standalone app that starts with your News Feed, but looks nothing like the familiar blue Facebook mobile app or web page. It’s full-frame images that seem to extend beyond the borders of your phone, videos that are ready to play with a tap, overlaid captions, posts from not only friends, but curated posts from Facebook editors who are experts in their fields and Facebook’s new topic areas....
It will be fascinating to follow Facebook's new app and weather it gets quick and wide adoption.