After Google pulled the plug on Google Reader, many start-ups and established companies have rushed in to fill the space. While many are just standalone feed aggregators, Facebook is rumored to be building its own reader which could aggregate content and news from the web.
According to this post on Re/Code, the social network is putting the finishing touches on its news reader which is being built exclusively for mobile devices. This reader called Paper is supposedly going to be similar to the Flipboard experience.
Flipboard is an online content aggregator which brings all your favorite content into a beautiful viewing experience on the phone. Facebook’s Paper is also going to have a similar aesthetic.
From what we can figure from the post, Paper will feature breaking news from prominent news groups and arrange them in a visually pleasing format akin to how newspapers carry the news. Users may also get to their add their own content streams, however this is not confirmed yet. Stories appearing on Paper will also have status updates from Facebook users for context.
Facebook has been working on this project for a couple of years. The project has also seen numerous delays but is expected to be finished soon. The rollout predicted to be later this month, in Facebook fashion, is expected to be limited. It might take many months for all users to get it and start using it. The Paper effort is being driven by the Facebook Newsfeed team and it remains to be seen how Facebook’s new reader could compare to other readers in terms of functionality and adoption.