Facebook Paper to Launch this Thursday

For those who are just getting excited about the social network called Facebook, this news should even be more interesting. According to various news sources, Facebook plans to launch a new iOS app called Paper tomorrow. Yes you read correctly, iOS! Sorry Droid fans.

Facebook Paper is a standalone app that uses a newspaper metaphor and takes content from the social network and turns it into a newspaper-style reading feed. Under the hood, the app is driven by algorithms and human editors, smartly curating content for you to peruse.

GIGAOM observes that:

In some ways, Paper — which comes from a small team inside the company known as Facebook Creative Labs — is the culmination of a vision that founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has had since at least 2009, when he and director of product Chris Cox started talking about the main Facebook news feed as a “personalized newspaper.”

So, for those who have been finding the whole Facebook user experience annoying and do not have the time to go through rigorous privacy and newsfeed settings, this might be the answer to your prayers. The app will come minus the social network’s signature blue colouring and traditional layouts. In fact, it is expected to look more like Flipboard and Pocket through its series cards. Users can pick and choose what they want to see, and receive both news stories and updates from relevant voices in the space.  Any public content is eligible to be included in Paper, the spokesperson said, including status updates or photos posted by any user. No further permission is required.

Now you will have the ability to look at Facebook briefly and glean information without actually wading through the white noise of hundreds of acquaintances. That must be music to somebody’s ear!