The internet is enormous and certainly not getting smaller anytime soon. We praise the internet for bringing the gift of knowledge and information to the world. However, along with this gift, comes the curse of misinformation. There are just as many lies as truths out there which can make it terribly hard and time-consuming to find quality content. Thankfully, some of the more reputable sources out there attempt to help us with their convenient news aggregators.
These aggregators display all the best content in one, easy to read location and they can even be tailored to your individual’s needs. There are plenty of good options to choose from but to help you save some time, we’ve compiled a list of the top three.
1. GOOGLE NEWS: BEST AGGREGATOR FOR DESKTOP USERS
Owned and operated by Google, Google News is free. The beta version launched in 2002 and official released four years later in 2006. Now, Google watches more than 4,500 sources all over the world. As of September of 2015, the service is in 35 different languages. Additionally, it covers articles appearing within the past 30 days on various websites.
Google aggregates content from over 25,000 publishers with the front page consisting of the first 200 characters of a given article. From there, users can follow a link to the original content. What many desktop users love about Google’s aggregator is the various features and customization. Users can search and sort the results by date and time. Furthermore, readers can customize the articles by groups and receive email alerts for posts matching their interests.
2. APPLE NEWS: BEST AGGREGATOR FOR IPHONE USERS
Apple News is a mobile app and aggregator put together with Apple’s iOS 9, thus replacing Newsstand. Using Apple News, users can read articles based on websites, publishers, and topics they choose. During their keynote address in 2016, Apple revealed that the latest edition on iOS 10 updated the app. Hence, we now have a new icon and app design along with improved “For You” sections organized by category. Furthermore, there is support for subscriptions for particular news sources and system for notifications and email on top stories.
Apple News works by taking stories from the web from feeds like Atom, RSS, and publishing partners. Any publisher can submit their content to Apple just as any user can add a feed through the Safari browser.
3. TWITTER NEWS: BEST AGGREGATOR FOR SOCIAL MEDIA USERS
Before all else, Twitter is a social media platform. However, it’s a versatile one at that. Twitter is the land where content is shared, memes are born and news breaks fast. The thing about Twitter is that news shows up in the order it happens. Just venture to the top of any Twitter feed and you’ll see Tweets that are mere seconds old. When new ones appear, old Tweets get pushed down.
This urgency is what made Twitter the best place to go to watch the live news unfold. Whether it’s a protest, military attack, sports game or TV show, people put it on Twitter first. Perhaps the best part is that many people sharing information and Tweeting links are not reporters at all. Some may see that as a downside but the fact that anyone can be a reporter or critic on Twitter is rather beautiful. The end result is a world of unique and varied options that grow organically.
Remember, though, everything from news to cat videos is public on Twitter by default. If you’d like to create a personal outlet that just involves your friends, be sure to adjust the privacy settings accordingly.
