Instagram’s founders present a new social media app… for news reading

Can lightning strike twice? Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger and Instagram co-founders have unveiled their next social app today. According to The Verge’s report, the duo has launched a new venture exploring social apps. The product they have released is Artifact, an individualized news reader.

The app is not publicly available yet, but there is a waiting list where users interested can sign up. It sounds like an updated version of Google Reader, the RSS reader app Google discontinued in 2013. Artifact, however, is described as an RSS newsreader which uses machine learning to customize the experience for users. It also adds social elements to allow users to share articles with their friends. Google Reader did have a similar feature but it had to be programmed directly by the user.

Artifact’s first presentation will be a carefully curated collection of news articles, The Verge article states, but over time, these stories will become more tailored to the interests of users. The articles may come from major publishers like The New York Times or smaller sites. Comment controls, separate feeds of articles and commentary posted by the people you follow along with their comments will be other key features. A direct message inbox is also available for private discussions.

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Instagram’s co-founders introduce a new social app…for news reading