Paper: Facebook’s Refreshed App of the Near Future

By Ruben Lone

Facebook has announced a new platform for its own creative ambitions, and the first app to go along with it. Facebook’s Creative Labs hopes to be a launchpad for new technologies that could potentially be disruptive to the billion-user base if implemented into the existing framework of the website and app. However, Facebook doesn’t want its foresight to be hampered by its own size, so it plans on using Creative Labs to push the boundaries of the social media network’s current scope.

For the first of Creative Labs’ creations, Facebook has announced a new app called Paper, which is a dedicated news reader for mobile devices. Unlike Facebook’s website, the timeline, photo streams, and updates will be custom-tailored by the user, with varied options for reading, sharing, and photos viewing. In the introductory video, Paper exudes a certain natural simplicity, bringing the social network back to its community roots.

With well-designed and curated interface, white backgrounds, and thin, modern lines, Paper looks incredibly attractive and easy to use. As a stubborn Facebook user who has systematically hidden about 90% of my “friends” from my news feed, Paper appears to be a “reverse Facebook” that lets the user can choose who they want to see, and how they want information to appear. Thematic exploration and category options make Paper much less obtrusive than browser Facebook, and sharing options are easily sorted to limit or allow particular posts to be seen by others.

Rather than status updates, Paper is built on “stories” which include users’ and their friends’ own updates as well as stories from whichever news and blogs you choose to follow. When preparing a post, you can see an exact preview prior to sending it off into the digital world, and full screen photos are fulling viewable using the iPhone’s tilt technology.

Facebook’s user interface has become ubiquitous, but is often unpredictable. The recent addition of trending topics makes the network look like it’s throwing effort into far more functionality than it affords, and the methods of posting, editing, tagging, and uploading photos that complement each story are somewhat tedious. However, Paper is an appealing option for a new wave of Facebook, and its single functionality (sans messaging and little red bubbles popping up every time a comment is commented-on) will hopefully replace the clutter on the screen. If the design aesthetic of Paper then translates to a new browser view, Facebook users may be in for a much more personal experience.

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