Paper - stories from Facebook, Sharing our Perspectives
If you are an iPhone owner you may have noticed a new app currently sitting in the number one spot in the Best New Apps category called Paper - stories from Facebook. The launch of this app was announced at the end of January and was delivered February 3rd as promised. You can learn more about the launch and what the app is in our “Introducing Facebook Paper” blog post.
As a team we decided to download this app, take it for spin and let you know what we thought about it, assuming you care.
When I downloaded this app I was hesitant to be accepting of it. In the past I was always bothered with Facebook changes. However this was the first time I actually liked the change! What I like most is that it is user friendly. If you think about it like a newspaper it really does make sense.
What I also think is special about this change is the fact that Facebook guides and talks you through the changes. I find that very helpful and I think that was a great addition! I only have one complaint about the app. That is the top portion that has rotating images.
Several times an image pops up that intrigues me, I want to click on it to see more and I cannot. I have to wait for all the images to rotate through a cycle. It’s a great feature because it allows you to see 2 things at once but it is very frustrating when you see something that catches your eye but cannot click and read more. I wonder why? Seems like something Facebook would have figured out in the testing process but maybe there’s a meaningful reason behind it.
Overall I say of all the Facebook changes I’ve lived through this one I actually like! Good job Facebook! - Cassandra Stephens
I downloaded this app as soon as it was available, I was excited to see what Facebook was up to. I started using this over my regular Facebook App just so I can adjust to it quickly since it is very different than what we are used to. I am looking at this app from a social and marketing perspective.
This will change the social platform and how we engage with one another. It is more visually appealing allowing us to pan images. The panning of images, in my opinion, is an incredible change because it almosts puts you there within the pic. This allows me to feel present with my connections.
Socially this will not just change how we engage but who we are more likely to engage with. I found myself looking at the images differently but I was engaging with text only posts just as much. Although the boxes are smaller I still felt like they were legible and appealing. This could be due to the app being brand new so it heightens our desire to be involved. I am interested in seeing how things go as this app grows and gets older.
From a marketing perspective this app will change how we view, engage and create mobile apps or even mobile web apps. This is very similar to Flipboard, but honestly now that Facebook’s on board with that style of design we will probably see some drastic changes. Honestly, this is a professional designers dream in my opinion because mobile is a little bland currently. Taking mobile apps to the next level will make them more visually stunning, bringing marketers and designers together.
It is a refreshing, welcomed change in my opinion. - Gary Winchester
Although I enjoy the visually appealing and simplified content in this new app it needs a major speed boost. As a developer I understand this is newly released so I will remain patient while hoping they do something soon. I do look forward to an update.
Something to note about this app is that while it is very visual in nature, all of those visuals can cause performance issues. Not only will Facebook need to figure out how to balance their eye candy with performance but so will any future app that wishes to go this route. - Norm Schurdell
Thank you for reading. If you found this information helpful please let us know by leaving your own thoughts about this new app from Facebook below. We will not know if we should continue blog posts like this if you say or do nothing, so please share your thoughts. It’s how we learn, change, grow.