Flipboard strengthens its connections to the open-source social web, also known as the fediverse
Flipboard, the social magazine app from the Web 2.0 era, is adapting to leverage the growing momentum towards an open social web by deepening its integration with the fediverse. The fediverse comprises interconnected servers hosting platforms like Mastodon, Pixelfed, PeerTube, and soon Instagram Threads. Flipboard’s latest announcement extends its fediverse integrations to 400 additional creators and introduces fediverse notifications within the Flipboard app.
With this update, Flipboard users can now view new followers and other activity related to the content they share in the fediverse directly within the Flipboard app. This move follows last year’s integration of Mastodon into the app, replacing Twitter, and the adoption of ActivityPub, the social networking protocol underpinning decentralized social networks like Mastodon.
In February, Flipboard announced plans to include its creators and their social magazines in the fediverse, enabling their curated content to reach a wider audience. By sharing creators’ posts and links with the broader fediverse, Flipboard’s publishing partners gain native ActivityPub feeds, expanding their discoverability among Mastodon users and others. This expansion adds 400 more Flipboard magazines to the federated social networking ecosystem, bringing the total to over 11,000.
Flipboard CEO Mike McCue emphasized the significance of this move, stating, “We’re not just making curated content on Flipboard viewable, but enabling two-way communication so users can see activity and engage with fediverse communities.”
The newly federated accounts include public accounts with one or two magazines, recent activity, no trust and safety violations, and participation in Flipboard community programs. Users will be notified of their federated status via email and can choose to disable federation through their Flipboard settings.
In addition to expanding its federated content, Flipboard is enhancing the fediverse experience within its app. With the latest version (4.3.25), users can see new followers from the fediverse in their profile and receive fediverse reactions and conversations in their notifications. The notifications window now features three sections: Replies, Activity, and News, providing a seamless integration of fediverse interactions alongside Flipboard’s editorial content.
