Flipboard Expands: Adds Audio From NPR, Public Radio & SoundCloud; Introduces Japanese Version
“Social magazine” Flipboard may have to think up a new tagline for itself, as tonight the company is rolling out an update which greatly expands its focus beyond text-based content to also include audio.
Context & Ripple Effects
Flipboard had already broadened its inputs through Google Reader and Flickr integrations, then added LinkedIn and a curated content guide in 2011. The new release extends that aggregation model beyond written and visual feeds while taking the product into Japanese.
First-order effects
- NPR, public-radio providers and SoundCloud receive distribution inside Flipboard’s reading experience, giving users audio alongside the sources they already browse.
- Japanese-language users gain a localized version of Flipboard, expanding the service’s addressable audience beyond its existing language offering.
Second-order effects
- Flipboard’s curation and discovery design must accommodate audio as a distinct format, rather than treating every source as an article or image feed.
- Audio providers on Flipboard compete for attention within the same curated interface as LinkedIn, Google Reader and Flickr sources, making in-app placement part of their distribution value.
Third-order effects
- If Flipboard keeps adding media types and languages, its product identity shifts from a social reader toward a cross-format editorial-discovery layer.
- The move points to aggregation services competing on how well they package disparate publisher and social feeds into a single browsing experience, rather than on any one content format.
The trend: Social reading products are broadening from text-centric feed aggregation into multi-format, localized discovery services.