Flipboard Launches Surf: Explore the Open Social Web

Flipboard's Surf: A New Approach to the Open Social Web

Flipboard, the creator of the social magazine application, is undergoing a transformation to align with the evolving landscape of the open social web. The company’s initial application enabled users to curate magazines by collecting content from blogs, news sources, and established social platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Now, their new application, Surf, entering invite-only beta today, focuses on browsing and exploring the decentralized social web.

Expanding Beyond Traditional Social Networks

Surf will incorporate services such as Mastodon and Bluesky, alongside broader web content including blogs, podcasts, and YouTube videos. The application’s functionality relies on support for open protocols like RSS, providing content updates from websites and podcasts.

Furthermore, Surf integrates with the AT Protocol utilized by Bluesky, and ActivityPub, the foundation for the Mastodon decentralized platform, as well as Pixelfed, PeerTube, Friendica, Ghost, and Instagram Threads.

Addressing the Challenges of Decentralization

According to Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, Surf is the result of nearly two years of development aimed at resolving issues users encounter when transitioning from large, centralized social media platforms to those built on open protocols.

“At its core, Surf functions as a browser specifically designed for the social web,” McCue explains. “It allows users to navigate any feed on the social web, be it ActivityPub, AT Proto, or RSS.” He adds that profiles, hashtags, and even searches can all function as navigable feeds.

Curated and Custom Feeds

Flipboard’s editorial team provides a selection of pre-made feeds on the app’s homepage, categorized into sections like Featured, Trending, Expert Voices, and Communities.

However, the true power of Surf lies in the ability to construct personalized feeds by combining sources of the user’s choosing.

For example, a user interested in AI model development or mountain biking could combine feeds featuring preferred individuals, real-time searches, keywords, popular hashtags, RSS feeds from websites and blogs, and favorite YouTube channels and podcasts.

Configuring and Controlling Custom Feeds

Surf offers numerous features for configuring and managing custom feeds. The app includes 30,000 pre-defined topics that can be combined and adjusted.

A “Keep Feed on Topic” option allows users to filter out irrelevant content, even when following individuals or websites with diverse posting habits.

Users can also configure feeds to include or exclude replies, reposts, or mature content, and customize the feed’s ordering.

Multiple topics can be supported within a single custom feed, initially using “AND” logic, with “OR” functionality planned for future updates.

Diverse Viewing Options

Surf provides multiple ways to view feeds. A “Discuss” tab offers a timeline-like experience similar to Twitter, allowing users to like, reply to, repost, and bookmark posts when logged in with Mastodon credentials. Bluesky login support is expected within weeks.

Additional tabs, “Watch,” “Read,” “Listen,” and “Look,” allow users to filter feeds to display only videos, articles, podcasts, and photos, respectively. The “Watch” mode provides a TikTok-like scrolling experience.

Feed owners can designate a default tab for their feeds.

Reuniting Fragmented Communities

Surf is particularly beneficial for communities dispersed across multiple services, such as those previously engaging with the hashtag NBA Threads on Meta’s Threads app. Following moderation concerns, some users migrated to Bluesky and Mastodon, requiring them to consult multiple applications to remain connected.

Surf reunites these communities through custom feeds that aggregate content from various services.

The Future of the Social Web

Flipboard has also integrated its magazine app with the open social web, connecting it with services like Mastodon and Bluesky. McCue describes these integrations as the “first wave” of the social web.

He believes Surf represents the “next wave,” envisioning entirely new user experiences powered by the capabilities of the social web.

Beta Access and Availability

Surf is currently in a closed, invite-only beta, prioritizing users likely to create feeds based on their prior experience with custom feeds or lists on platforms like Bluesky and Twitter/X.

The application is initially available on iOS and Android via invitation, with a desktop web version planned for future release.