With the potential consequence of making its original app irrelevant, Facebook is launching a news-consumption app that will change the way users experience the social networking giant. With most of the same abilities as the Facebook app, Paper is a more aesthetically pleasing,new invention out of Creative Labs. Since realizing that 945 million of its 1.2 billion consumers accessed the site by way of a smartphone or tablet in recent months, Facebook decided a revamp of its mobile presentation would be advantageous. Despite being knocked throughout the past couple of years for not being able to reach its full potential in the mobile market, Facebook is now making a large stride in that department with Paper.
Creation
Working on it for well over a year, a fifteen-person team from Facebook’s new Creative Labs built the Paper app. Due to a realization that the mobile aspect represents 53 percent of advertising revenue, Facebook wanted to improve its presence on smartphones and tablets. Paper should do just that. The growing revenue producer of mobile advertising pushed Facebook to develop something new and has created yet another platform for social media and digital marketing.
While news-hungry people may not appreciate the way Paper will have users consuming content slower than before, businesses will see a chance to enhance their mobile presence with the help of social media marketing programs like that of Market Bridge. Additionally, Facebook sought the consultation of Letterpress and Tweetie creator, Loren Brichter, to develop Paper.
Configuration and Features
With a new style and layout, Paper is Facebook’s attempt to create magazine-like consumption of its content and an attractive presentation. Unlike the original Facebook app, Paper won’t have any buttons to push. Instead, users will navigate the new mobile app via swiping and tilting their smartphone or tablet. Along with the added bonus of being ad-free for now, Paper offers a new way to post to Facebook with an editor included that will allow users to preview what they post before submitting it for others to see.
Paper will feature a horizontally scrolling set of screens that will provide a full-screen, clean layout without any distractions. Wanting to encourage users to linger over posts, Facebook expects people to spend more time digesting and enjoying posts, images and stories. Although it won’t include all of the same abilities as the original Facebook app, the Paper app will have the news feed as its first level and feature stories from news categories along with friends’ posts. Additionally, the Paper app will allow users to customize their experience by choosing topics, like sports or food, to add to their stories.
Creative Labs
With the purpose of developing new mobile apps, Creative Labs was formed as a branch of Facebook. The Creative Labs initiative is focused on the growth of stand-alone projects that explore new forms of socializing online. A major aspect of Creative Labs is the way it gives employees the freedom to tackle different projects without the hindrance of corporate distractions. Of its 6,000 employees, Facebook is allowing the teams from Creative Labs to work toward some of its most ambitious goals. With Paper being its first release, Creative Labs figures to be a major player in the mobile market in the future.
Thanks to the efforts of Creative Labs, Paper is changing the way Facebook users will receive and share information online. For the giant company, Creative Labs is a way to make Facebook move like a startup, meaning more projects like Paper may soon be on the way. With the new configuration and layout, Paper is taking the practicality of the original Facebook app and adding in an elegant news-consumption aspect that will allow users to experience social networking differently.
