Flipboard’s Surf App Simplifies Creation of Custom Social Feeds Using Open Web Protocols

Flipboard has introduced a new feature called Starter Sets in its social web app Surf, designed to make building personalized content feeds easier for non-technical users. Launched in late 2024 as an invite-only beta, Surf is Flipboard’s answer to the increasing limitations on mainstream social media platforms’ APIs. Instead of relying on algorithm-driven timelines, Surf users can now create topic-specific feeds, including hobbies, sports, or communities, using content from open web sources like Bluesky, Mastodon, Pixelfed, PeerTube, and Threads, as well as blogs, podcasts, YouTube, and RSS feeds.

The new Starter Sets feature provides pre-populated feed templates organized by category, allowing users to easily customize and expand them with additional sources or filter them by topic. Users can also integrate their Mastodon or Bluesky feeds and publish their customized feeds to Bluesky. This functionality empowers users to reclaim control of their social media experience, countering the dominance of tech giants like Meta and Google. Surf represents a broader trend toward decentralized and user-controlled content curation. Although still in invite-only mode, Surf is gradually expanding access via its waitlist.