Today’s information society has both benefits and drawbacks. We are constantly flooded with information and content, some of which is useful and some of which is junk. So how do we effectively consume and filter out what we want to read?
On your iPad, one possible solution is to use the Flipboard App. Flipboard lets you browse information from many different sources organized by topic in a digital magazine format.
You can create your own digital magazine and add stories (Flip) into it and keep it private or public for others to see.
If you are a Facebook or Twitter user, you can connect your accounts and see your news feed or timeline in an easy to read magazine format. Other social networks such as Instagram or Tumblr can be summoned in too.
Downloading Flipboard
The Flipboard App is free and can be downloaded from the App Store. If you would like to know more about how to download and install iPad Apps, check out this post (an old classic…)
Create an Account
Before using Flipboard, you have to create an account or you can login directly using your existing Facebook account.
Although the App did not show a specific message or dialog box, I noticed that when creating an account, flipboard sends you an email asking you to confirm your email address. After confirming the address, you can start using Flipboard on your iPad.
Using Flipboard
The first time you login to the App you will find a magazine with Cover Stories. To add more magazines you can tap on “More” or on the red button on the top right corner of the App. This will bring you to a topics menu which in turn is subdivided by sections or “popular sources”.
To add sections, just tap on the bookmark icon next to it. You will see a “subscribed” message appearing briefly and then disappearing.
The newly added sections or popular sources appear under the parent topic on the main Flipboard screen.
Create your own Magazine!
While browsing articles, you may find information you would like to keep on your own magazine. Tap on the “+” sign on the lower right corner of the screen and then tap “create magazine”.
Enter a title for your magazine, select a category, choose public or private and then tap Create.
Now you can add articles (flip into) your newly created magazine. You can share your magazines by email, iMessage, Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
Check out the Smart iPad Guide magazine I just created!
Questions? Thoughts?
Have you tried Flipboard? Did you create your own magazines?
Let me know by leaving a comment below!