Tumbleweed focuses on sharing to make the news not boring
When you think of the word “tumbleweed,” the first thing that probably comes to mind is the image of dryness and desolation, of a boring place. And yet the recently released app called Tumbleweed News seeks to make the news anything but boring.
And as well it should, since it’s targeted primarily to millennials, who are likely to not pay attention to something online unless it’s of the bite-sized and meme-tastic kind.
What’s new?
Popular news apps like NYT Now and BF News offer a feed of news summaries that lead to the full stories when tapped. Tumbleweed dares to be different from those as it offers a feed of images coupled with one- or two-sentence news bites that are decidedly designed to be shared.
So don’t expect to be reading the full stories in Tumbleweed. But do expect to be sharing the latest news in a new way.
Share the news
When you tap on an item, you can choose to share it as is or edit it before sharing. Tumbleweed provides a set of editing tools that let you add text, stickers, and photos to the item to make it more interesting and eye-catching. You can then share your #Newsart, as it were, with your friends via text, email or social media to spread and spark conversation about the news.
Check out this video for a demo of Tumbleweed:
If you can’t see the video embedded above, please click here.
It’s worth noting that the news feed in Tumbleweed is kept fresh by having the items disappear in 24 hours, in keeping with the Snapchat generation’s penchant for ephemeral content.
Designed for iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 8.0 or later, Tumbleweed News is available now on the App Store for free.
If you prefer to know the news in detail, you’ll do better to look elsewhere. But if you think you and your friends would enjoy sharing the news à la memes, then by all means download Tumbleweed.
