GoKawiilIf you're overwhelmed by trying to keep track of several social media apps and interests, you now have a new way to bring your connections together. Flipboard, a popular social magazine app, launched Surf on Thursday.
Surf reminds me of when we used to use RSS feeds to keep up to speed on our interests. In short, it's a fast, simplified way to browse and explore the web on mobile or desktop.
Your Surf site brings together social media posts, videos, podcasts and conversations in a feed-like style. So if you're into politics, Rolling Stone Politics' Surf site might offer you relevant posts from Bluesky, reposts from Wired and original posts created on Surf.
How does Surf work?
Visit Surf.social and create an account. You can scan feeds from other communities, create your own and connect with people who share similar interests. Surf lets you embed sources from several social media platforms, including Bluesky, Threads, YouTube and Mastodon. You can also include sources from podcast services, blogs and newsletters.
Surf also has a search engine in beta mode. When I searched for Pilates, for example, a feed was curated to include related posts and articles -- it also highlighted people who contributed to the feed so I could see more of their content, if I chose. Trending topics, like Survivor 50 and Nintendo, are also available.
Surf lets you search for dedicated feeds based on your interests, like cooking or tech. Flipboard/Surf
Uniting communities
"Social websites help podcasters, creators and publications build communities around their work and control the experience, including the algorithm," Mike McCue, CEO of Flipboard and Surf, said in a statement. McCue says creators can use social media websites to unite people and conversations that are already happening.
"Rather than starting a community from scratch, creators can use social websites to easily bring together the people and conversations that are already happening around their podcasts, videos and newsletters across the social web," he said.
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