Flipboard is entering the fediverse in a way that is unprecedented. The firm revealed on Monday that it is starting to migrate user accounts to ActivityPub. This means that content curators on Flipboard are now curating in a fashion that can be viewed and interacted with by applications such as Mastodon.
Only 25 accounts—including The Verge’s—have federated with ActivityPub as of right now, but Flipboard claims that by March, everyone using the platform will be able to open their account to the fediverse and follow any fediverse account directly from the Flipboard app. By then, Flipboard would resemble Mastodon or Pixelfed in that it would be an ActivityPub-based platform with an interface meant for reading articles rather than short posts. That will be the largest event in the fediverse – at least until Threads makes a permanent appearance.
Flipboard CEO Mike McCue states, “Basically, we’re in the process of replacing our whole social back-end with ActivityPub.” “I believe that Flipboard will be the first widely used service to migrate from a walled garden to ActivityPub.”
I realize that’s a lot of technical jargon. Let us try to interpret it using The Verge’s account. As of right now, each time we add content to one of our Flipboard magazines, we’ll also automatically create a post that links to the story we’re adding, the Flipboard magazine, and any accompanying commentary. That post is exactly like any other ActivityPub post you may find on Mastodon. You will now receive the same feed of content whether you follow our magazines on Flipboard, our Flipboard account on Mastodon, or any other place where fediverse content is available. Is that the only distinction? Mastodon will feel more like a timeline, and Flipboard will appear more like the reading software that it is.
In essence, a federated Flipboard ought to feel not too dissimilar from, let’s say, a Twitter user who would compulsively gather information or news related to a particular subject. Flipboard has always depended on curators to identify quality content for people to read; the only distinction is that curators can now publish to Flipboard and other platforms simultaneously. Flipboard hopes to create the best reading and discovery tools without restricting consumers from using its platform exclusively.
These posts only go in one direction at first. Flipboard hasn’t completely completed the fediverse’s promise that if you like or comment on a post, that information would also be collected and synchronized across apps and services. McCue claims that will happen in January.
Over the past year, McCue has been promoting ActivityPub, Mastodon, and the federated social internet to everyone who would listen, even The Verge. Flipboard just revealed that it is no longer integrating with X and is instead concentrating on open platforms. Earlier this year, Flipboard launched a Mastodon instance called flipboard.social.
McCue continues to emphasize that there is still plenty to be discovered. Flipboard has a long history of improving reading experiences and providing tools for content control, but there is a ton of new content available now. Is it better for users to curate items using their Flipboard account or to maintain a Mastodon account for regular postings? Though McCue notes that “I think how these accounts relate to each other is an interesting question,” he says he is keeping all of his accounts for the time being. McCue believes that now is the right moment to investigate and resolve the many unanswered questions regarding the fediverse’s culture and user interface.
