Facebook Paper is set to launch today in the US.  If you hadn’t heard, it’s a new mobile app from Facebook that aggregates news and social feeds in one place. Check out Paper’s top features here.

Supercharging the content stream, Facebook Paper combines sources, from other users, online magazines, news sources, or even blogs.

Facebook is taking on a promising but young market, threatening established content readers like Flipboard. But more platform providers like Google and apple are seeking ways to turn content delivery into a consumer service, making this yet another way Facebook hopes to contextualize its massive user base. Facebook is already a source of content for its millions of users, being tapped by the very market its taking on with the launch of Paper.

The move is an indication of Facebook’s long term goals towards monetizing its user base, and managing its ecosystem. But it’s often more difficult for the big brands like Facebook to launch smaller app-services within their own ecosystem, coming off as an insincere appeal to thwart the little guys. The biggest thing Facebook Paper has going for it is its existing user base, which means Paper starts with millions of members right out the gate.

User experience

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Facebook hopes to keep those millions of users interested in the app with an intuitive interface optimized for mobile tablets. You use swipe gestures to unfold stories or discover more content, and explore photos with the tilt of your device. Facebook Paper also encourages content creation, simplifying the editing and sharing process for end users.

Screen capture from Facebook Paper demo

To discover content on Paper’s home page, pull down on the top part of the screen to customize the app.  Look for “Edit Sections,” tap it to see what categories you can choose from.  Pull up categories of interest to the areas provided at the top, then browse the sections you’ve selected to discover more content.  Each section contains photos, videos, articles, essays and other insights.

No news yet if the app will have a search feature or how you can manually search for content creators or topics, if you can’t find what you are looking for in the pre-configured Sections.

The only downside is, especially if you’re not a Facebook fan, is that most of the content you will see will be from your Facebook users – mostly your friends, people you follow, and other people, brands, or publications you follow.  But it does promise a more social experience, which means may mean it is easier to see posts from people you don’t know but are interested in.

Still, if you’re not sold on the whole Facebook-has-a-content-aggregator-app deal, there are other social content and news aggregator apps to choose from.  International users will also be interested in these alternatives, as Paper launches first in the US only.

Facebook Paper alternatives

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Flipboard

Dubbed your personal magazine, Flipboard allows you to choose which categories you are most interested so you can stay up to date.  Posts in Flipboard come from publications such as The New York Times, NPR, The GLobe and Mail, as well as blog posts.  You can choose which categories to add to your own Flipboard.  The app uses the same swiping and tapping gestures to explore content and as the name implies, the stories look like flipboards. If you flick on a page, it opens like a flipboard.

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Feedly

This app gained popularity when Google shattered its Google Reader.  People wanted an alternative to the defunct service and Feedly was one of the top apps seen as a viable replacement.  To create your own Feedly experience, you need to sign up using your Google account, and start saving content creators you are interested in so you get notified when a new post comes up.

This is more of a news aggregator than a social aggregator and it is intended for people who want to get the latest updates about topics they are interested in while on the go.  Using the mobile app is easy, just flick through content and if you find one, just hit the “+” sign to add it to your own little magazine.  You can make your own categories to sort out the articles or use the default categories.

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LinkedIn Pulse

If you’re looking for a more professional news aggregator, one that keeps you up to date with the business side of things, then LinkedIn Pulse is the one for you.  What makes this different from other content aggregators is that its users have access to not only trusted publications but also LinkedIn influencers, known for their insightful posts.  You can easily share, like, and comment on articles shared by people in your network or see what’s trending worldwide and join conversations.

featured image via Facebook Paper