Artifact launches 'Links' for user-driven content discovery with For You & Following feed

The Instagram co-founders have introduced a new feature called Links in their news aggregator app, Artifact. This feature allows users to share web links, curate a personalized feed, and visually display these links in the app's Links tab, which can be searched and followed by other app users through the social profiles tool, meaning that now you can follow any user and not just writers, as was announced some time ago. The app now includes new "For You" and "Following" feeds in the bottom menu, which recommend links from other users that are relevant to your personal interests.

The process of adding content to Links is quite simple, as it only requires selecting a link and sharing it from the iOS or Android sharing menu, and then deciding what caption to add or if you want to attach photos. Users can also share quotes from articles by highlighting the text and selecting "Share to Links," which will add that content to other users' 'For You or Following' feeds. In fact, the same AI tool that enables news summaries will assist in the caption writing process for the new Links feature. The update is now available on both iOS and Android, with Android posting capabilities set to be introduced soon.

With the inclusion of Links, it becomes clear that Artifact should not only be considered as an alternative to more traditional news readers like Feedly or other microblogging social networks like X or Substack Notes, but it could also be a valid option for those looking for something similar to Flipboard, Reddit, or even a lighter version of Pinterest. It's definitely interesting to see how the platform is evolving.