Flipboard: One ‘Free’ Reason to Buy an iPad

Press is starting to leak today about a new product for the iPad called Flipboard. It calls itself a “social magazine” and what it does is pull all the content being viewed by people in your social networks and presents it to you in a magazine format. I have to say it’s pretty amazing. If you use sites like Twitter and Facebook to find stories that have been promoted by your friends, then this app is for you.

People are already heaping praise upon this product.  As I read about it, I think this gives people what they have been looking for on the Internet for a while, a truly relevant content magazine online. Think about this scenario: You follow certain people on Twitter because they link to the content that you enjoy and are looking for on the Internet. Well, now imagine your follower lists creating a magazine-style experience.  But why is this important for us?

• As minorities hunger for relevant content on the Web and look to their social circles to find the content that media outlets are not giving them, this product creates a great experience for that.
• Black media outlets that have not truly gone digital yet should see this as another reason why they need to and that it’s long overdue.
• As bloggers attempt to add a cultural overlay to mainstream topics, those views can now be offered in a format that will engage the reader even more.

That’s the positive.

But this platform highlights an issue that has been present for some time. When will black media make a real effort to engage their audience online and in the emerging mobile space? We’ve seen magazines launch iPad versions of their publications. Media networks like ABC create dedicated media experiences for this device  but still nothing for black media. People will most likely complain that Flipboard makes no mention of minorities in their initial marketing but face it why would they?

They are focused on creating a mass market tool that gives value to all of it’s users (which BTW is infinitely harder to do) and any marketing is based on data that is gathered about an intended audience, which so far based the level of apps created for the African-American audience on this device is slim to none. So if you’re looking for a laid back way to engage in all the content flow you’re getting from your Facebook and Twitter feeds then grab Flipboard today (it’s free) but if you’re looking for traditional media brands to do it for you it might be a longer wait.

Check out my cinch cast where I discuss the Flipboard in detail. You can also follow me on twitter @navarrowwright

About the Author
Navarrow Wright is the CTO of Interactive One, Interactive One is a digital and print media company focusing on the African-American and urban market. As CTO Wright is responsible for the technical strategy of all the Interactive One online properties which include Hellobeautiful, The UrbanDaily, NewsOne, Elev8 and BlackPlanet. He is also responsible for the technical management of the Radio One Network’s radio sites Navarrow was formerly the President of Maximum Leverage Solutions ( http://maxlevsolutions.com), An internet technology consulting firm. Wright is the Co-founder of Globalgrind.com with Russell Simmons and The former CTO of BET.com. Navarrow blogs about issues in technology that affect entrepreneurs, minorities and urban youth on his site at http://www.navarrowwright.com
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