#FlipboardChat Summary: What Makes You Flip? (Q&A with Flipboard)

Mia Quagliarello / August 5, 2015

Every Wednesday evening, members of the Flipboard Club—an unofficial group of passionate evangelists—hold a Twitter chat about a Flipboard-centric topic. This week’s topic is going to be “How Sports Teams Can Use Flipboard Magazines.” Join in the chat on Wednesday at 7pm PT / 10pm ET via the #FlipboardChat hashtag on Twitter. (If the time zone doesn’t work for you, join this Facebook group to stay in the loop.)

Last week, we had fun asking the questions during “What Makes You Flip? (Q&A with Flipboard).” Here’s what went down:

You’re talking to someone who’s never heard of Flipboard. What’s your elevator pitch?

• Flipboard is a social platform where you can read and curate into mags anything that interests you. Plus it’s beautiful.
• Would you like an easy way to read just what you are interested in? And make your own personal magazines? Flipboard!
• Flipboard is an app that allows you to read about a multitude of topics and also lets you share your POV through mags.
• Flipboard is the magazine for 21st century, a place for the latest news, the best recommendations, and GIFs.
• Best place to learn everything you want in one place! It’s also the easiest app to work with!
• Would you like to read all of the websites you regularly visit, and all of your social media accounts in one place?
• A place to catch up on all your interests, news, social feeds, and can collect the things you love into magazines.
• Flipboard: the Internet at your fingertips!

Why do you make Flipboard Magazines?

• Creating my own Flipboard Magazines allows me to express myself. You can see what I care about on my profile.
• I do them because they don’t require too much effort, they can reach a wide audience, and they’re fun!
• I’ve been make magazines most recently as gifts.
• I like collecting certain kinds of images and information into unique curations. I want to express my point of view.
• Creating magazines allows me to share educational topics with my colleagues regardless of where they’re located.
• I make Flipboard Magazines now because it’s the best tool for curating knowledge and sharing over various devices.
• To share what my passions and my interests are with the world.
• You can express and create on Flipboard like no other social network. It’s unique and that’s why we love it!
• I make mags to have information about things that interest me at my “flipatips.”
• Creating mags brings the ultimate joy for my varied interests and current events.
• I create Flipboard magazines to curate and archive articles by subject matter. Social Bookmarking for Educators.
• I make them due to the fact that it’s creative, fun and can let someone jump in to contribute!

What percent of your time is spent reading versus curating?

• 100% reading through Flipboard. Just starting to learn about making my own mags!!
• When I’m reading, I get distracted by things I want to curate. When I’m curating, I get distracted by things I want to read.
• It depends on the day. If following a major story like Greece, I will read more. If prepping for PD, I will curate more.
• 50/50 if I have an active hot mag with lots of viewers. Fast reading, appropriate content—flip, rinse and repeat!
• For me it’s 80% reading and 20% curating. Once your juices are flowing, curating is easy.
• I see reading and curating as the same thing. I curate as I read. The beauty of the flip!

What tools would help you be a better MagMaker?

• The ability to crop photos for covers would be great.
• More detailed analytics! If we don’t know what’s resonating with readers, we can’t bring the awesome. 🙂
• I wish I could search within my mags.
• I’d love to be able to search my mags and other pals’ mags, have sections or a TOC, alerts for dead links.
• Personally I would like some YouTube videos from MagMaker gurus in this group and how they do it. The top 5 tips.
• Co-curators having equal capability to edit mags. Perhaps this could be optional.
• Notification that I’ve already posted an item.
• I would love for notifications to be specific to magazines.
• Folders for grouping magmaker/magazines I follow so I can categorize to quickly find or reference.
• Ability to add callout quotes, highlight sections like analog mags. Readers can miss subtle caption function.

What features would make Flipboard a more social place for you?

• Being able to respond to specific comments within a stream of comments.
• The ability to like and comment on whole magazines. Being able to like comments made on my flips would make it more social.
• Some sort of instant/direct messaging option so MagMakers can communicate. That would be cool, especially for group mags.
• “Suggested users” to follow; having a tile dedicated to discovering mags instead of searching; more tools of interaction.
• Being able to tag someone from the Web.
• Having Compose on the iPad and computer would help. Also, messages on profiles! I’d love that.
• Honestly, I’m not sure I want it to be more social.
• It would be great if we could link to other accounts like Twitter and Facebook on our profile so we can connect everywhere!

How do you feel about leaderboards? Would you want to be known as a top curator in a category?

• Leaderboards would help you find new curators to follow but it may become too competitive and off-course.
• It’s an interesting idea, but high followers ≠ a quality experience, which should be the focus.
• Yes, people want to be known as a top curator in a category. That is the nature of people.
• No. This isn’t a competition. It’s users learning and sharing together. I’m not “give everyone a ribbon guy,” but no.
• Perhaps leaderboards could be an option. Opt to view them or not.
• How about badges for curators and a cookie for the masters of the best content??!!!
• My experience with leaderboards is that they demoralize people rather than inspire them.
• No. Social media is too much a competition for likes, etc. as it is. I’d hate to see that on Flipboard. 🙁

What are your most effective ways to share your magazines and grow your audience?

• Persistence. I’ve never had one method bring about a large gain in followers/viewers.
• I’ve been sharing my mag links as I comment online on relevant topics. including other social media as well as news sites.
• #FlipboardFriday is a built in way to promote your mags, share on Twitter with that hashtag! Share everywhere you are!
• Because I focus on quality of content in a mag, number of followers will come. I focus on its usefulness to educators.
• Instead of creating handouts, I use my mags for the PD I do for Educators. I also add mag links to my email signature.
• Share with everything social you can lay your hands on. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, G+, blogs, etc.
• Tag relevant accounts when sharing online. Ex: Converse fave’d my Converse mag after tagging.
• How about a QR code generator for the mag?
• Engaging others on Flipboard through comments, likes, re-flips etc. I *think* that’s how I got most of my followers…

We want to be the destination for all your interests. What’s the thing we need to do to achieve that?

• I’d like to do everything on mobile that I can do on the Web and vice versa. Don’t make me rely on both, please. 🙂
• Listen to your users. Evernote is a great case study for how to tank your company by thinking you’re smarter than us.
• I think you are that now, just keep refining your process to make it easy for users to become involved. Simplicity.
• You are the destination for all my interests. In fact, you have led me to interests I didn’t know I have. #rabbithole
• Easier for me to organize following tiles. “The destination for all of your interests”=a great elevator pitch!
• You are already my #1 but since you asked…have an under-18 option for educators and the K-12 age group.
• Grow the Flipboard brand. Have an icon to flip on websites like Pinterest, FB etc.
• Better branding, connect with established customers. Possible white label option on business, product, call to action mags.

Don’t forget to join the #FlipboardChat this week for “How Sports Teams Can Use Flipboard Magazines.” Start chatting on Twitter on at 7pm PT / 10pm ET, or come back to this blog for an update.

~MiaQ on behalf of the Flipboard Club

FOLLOW US ON:

FLIPBOARD / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK / GOOGLE+ / TUMBLR / YOUTUBE / SOUNDCLOUD / PINTEREST / MEDIUM