News
This App Is Like Tinder For News
Online news can be like a gigantic Costco — so vast and jam-packed with items that you often get lost trying to find what you're looking for. While having the item finder kiosk known as Google is certainly helpful, wouldn't it be even better if someone could just bring us the exact stuff we want? Like a personal shopper — or "dealer" of news. Meet Shuffle, the app that's "your personal news dealer," using algorithms to bring you curated content based on your interests. While the company describes the platform as a deck of cards, to us it looks suspiciously similar to another popular app — like Tinder, for news.
The new app from Media Group of America aims to change the way news is delivered to readers. Before we get into Shuffle's service, let's take a look at how we consume news now. Sometimes, we have specific news stories or topics we want to read about so we enter it into Google, and it spits out whatever it thinks is the most important and relevant articles based on our search. But what about when you don't have anything specific in mind and you just want to browse the news? Many of us have default sites that we head to — the New York Times, CNN, BuzzFeed, Bustle — but just think of all the content that's out there that we may never even see.
Enter Shuffle, which will bring you an array of news stories based on tailored criteria. The app could expose you to content that you wouldn't have normally accessed. And that's not all — Shuffle is also a social networking platform, because what isn't these days?
Its Algorithm
Shuffle creates a specific "deck of cards" tailored to your interests. The app's algorithm is based on five elements: personal interests, what your friends are reading, what's trending in your location, timely and recent news, and which stories are trending as popular now. The app will remember all of your actions (liking, not liking, sharing, etc.), which get reported back to its Courier technology in order to further refine your deck.
Tailored to You
Before Shuffle creates your deck, you have to choose publishers and interested categories to get started. Example categories range from general topics like fashion, finance, and politics to the more specific, like Australia.
Tinder For News
The easy-to-use format will feel familiar to some, since it's strikingly similar to Tinder — except there's a check button in place of the heart to indicate that you "like" something. Also like Tinder, you can swipe left if you don't like a news story in your deck, tap to read it, or swipe right to save it to your reading list.
The Social Factor
Once you're done reading an article, you can remove it from your list or you can recommend it to your friends via social media, email, or directly through Shuffle. Following other people on Shuffle will let the algorithm know that you care about what those people are reading, which will help to tailor your content even more precisely.
Watch the promo video below.
