In my last blog, I wrote about how Facebook’s Open Graph apps and their resulting unfiltered streams of information (‘frictionless sharing’) had caused a severe online backlash. A couple of blogs in particular caught my attention. One argued that Facebook had re-defined sharing, and that ‘seamless sharing’ would soon become the norm; another thought it was an example of a new type of media consumption, where instead of having to trawl the web for media- be it news articles, blogs, or social media updates- this media would come directly to the user.

Media consumption is changing, and technologies are evolving in order to adapt. Unfortunately Facebook’s interpretation, with its Open Graph apps and constant flow of unfiltered information to its users, isn’t quite up to scratch. If information coming directly to the user is the future of media consumption, then it is important that this is not an entirely passive and unfiltered process; as outlined in my previous blog, filtering and personalization is precisely what makes information valuable.

Personalized reading apps, such as Flipboard, Pulse and Zite, are an example of how technology can successfully implement and encourage this new type of media consumption. These apps allow you to select your preferred news, social and other media sources, and, based on your interests, this information is then aggregated, neatly packaged up and delivered straight to your own hand-held device.

Their appeal is understandable, largely because of their sheer usefulness, and they’re also a great time saver. Flipboard in particular has become one of the most popular, due in part to its magazine-style, easy-to-navigate design. When Flipboard launched its iPhone app last week, it was met with such demand that it briefly crashed- though this didn’t dent the app’s popularity: the company announced only the other day that it had gained 1 million new users as a result of the launch.

Not only are personalized reading apps changing the way users consume media, but their increasing relevance have been making the online advertising industry- especially publishers- sit up and pay attention. Publishers need to get in on this new trend, as the danger is that their content is bled out from them without generating any revenue for the publisher through advertising. As one blogger put it, personalized reading apps can epitomize “the best and the worst of the internet. The best is for the user. The worst is for the content providers that feed its stunning expansion without getting a dime in return”.

After initially giving users the added incentive of an ad-free experience, Flipboard started to display ads in July this year- remaining ad free would not have been sustainable for the company. It’s great news for advertisers, as Flipboard’s user data is a veritable gold mine, enabling them to deliver hyper-targeted ads. However, publishers still need to up their game, and either focus on providing competition for personalized reading apps, or get in on the deal through advertising.

At plista, we help publishers monetize content whilst at the same time making their readers’ experience more enjoyable. Our SlideRecommendations and RecommendationAds revolve around the same principle as personalized reading apps, in that based on the readers’ interests (determined through algorithms) we bring content that the reader will find useful directly to his or her screen. Through the plista ‘you might also find this interesting…’ widget, readers stay on the publisher’s page longer, as they are continually receiving new, interesting content to discover.

With the plista format, everyone wins; advertisers and publishers generate revenue, and the web user receives filtered information based on what they are interested in.  If this is the form future media consumption will take, I’d be happy with that: having my interests and favorite pages brought to me, showing me things I might otherwise have missed, sounds not only enjoyable and hassle-free but, in a time-poor online world, hugely useful too. Here’s to the future.

Find out more about our SlideRecommendations and RecommendationAds