CURATION TOOLS FOR THE MOBILE USER
Mobile devices are where business is headed. Many businesses are curating with mobile-first design. Before you begin curating, however, you need to understand the types of content that motivate your followers. Some basic tools that can help are RSS feeds and Twitter.
With Twitter, you can stay up to the minute on what people are saying about your industry. RSS feeds help you source content from your favourite providers. It will take a good deal of research to narrow in on the blogs with the voice and style you want.
Once you find them, their RSS feed can help you stay current and ready to nab the next title for your curated content. In addition to these well known tools, there are a couple of mobile apps that can help by curating content for you.
Zite – This formerly CNN-owned app offers you the ability to create a personalized magazine of niche-specific content. (A recent acquisition by Flipboard may impact future curation using Zite.) When you first sign up, there are a variety of pre-chosen suggestions like politics, economics, fashion, etc. You can then create your own. Plus, you can link your Google Reader, Twitter and Read it Later accounts to organize all of your content in one place. The best part about Zite is that it learns. As you use it, you give content a thumbs up or a thumbs down. It uses this to make predictions about your future likes and dislikes. You and the software work together to find the most perfect content for your needs.
Flipboard – This personalised magazine that shows you news based on your selections. It adds the ability to link practically all of your social media accounts to add in social content. You can link your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Instagram, Flickr and more. By adding in social media you gain access to content that would not normally make it into a curated list. Your friends organically help you source content, along with news sources, web crawlers, and other traditional sources. This dominated market share by being one of the first magazine-style news aggregators on the iPhone and iPad, making it Apple’s App of the Year in 2010. It soon moved to Android as well as is still building a substantial following.
Feedly – This app took over when Google Reader closed down a few years ago. The mobile app aggregates top stories into one easy-reading display. It can also operate as a browser bookmarklet for Firefox, Chrome or Safari so readers can enjoy their personalised magazine on their laptops.
Factiva – The Factiva app from by Dow Jones goes behind paywalls to uncover hardcore news and financial reports from licensed sources. Its designed as a communications channel for a corporate internet or a company-sponsored news reader.
Postpost – Twitter users will love the functionality of this neat little app. It only takes content from Twitter, but it makes that info much more readable. PostPost breaks down the content on your Twitter feed by type and priority.
Prismatic – Displays articles you’re likely to be interested in based on what your friends share. Think of it as Flipboard mixed with Google Reader. The site’s goal is to get the news that interests you the most to the front of the line.
Scoop.it – Whenever you see a fascinating tidbit online, you can grab it, add your thoughts and publish to your blog or social networks. This approach is ideal for small to medium sized businesses that often get bogged down in the complexities of curation. The final product is a ready-to-publish magazine.
Pocket – Save almost anything from the Internet with this app. You can view anything you’ve put into your “pocket,” even if you’re offline, on your tablet, phone or computer.