Artifact is an iOS and Android app made by the founders of Instagram. With a TikTok-like feed, the main idea is to deliver only the news that matters to you. Not only can you follow your favorite outlets, but the app recommends articles from your main interests, whether it’s politics, economics, tech, food, or whatever else.
With an expanding userbase, I enjoyed using the app because I could see if my articles were interesting for the audience alongside their comments (I’ll warn other writers that reading the comments on your own stories isn’t always a good idea).
But now, Artifact is adding another interesting feature that will be helpful for users and also for reporters.
A new Medium post reads: “(…) Whether it’s your favorite food writer, who consistently produces the best recipes, or a technology reporter that consistently uncovers the latest scoop — you’re left hoping to see their content and wondering if you missed some of the biggest stories of the day. To solve this, we’re adding the ability to follow individual writers.”
Now, if you want to follow a single author as opposed to an entire publication, Artifact allows you to do just that. Their stories will be prioritized in the feed, and you can get a notification when they publish – if you’d like.
For writers, they can claim their writers’ profiles on Artifact, and I just claimed mine. This allows me to customize my appearance on the platform and adds a $0/month verified badge to my profile. This way, readers can be sure they follow the right person. Writers can tap the profile icon, select the menu, and choose “Claim Writer” status from there. They can see how much their stories have been read alongside some other useful data.
Artifact says that while it believes machine learning will drive the app, “giving users the ability to follow writers is an important first step in giving more control.” In my opinion, it brings writers and readers closer, as it’s easy to discover the stories that matter to you. And with many news outlets available, seeing a familiar face covering a topic you’re interested in is very promising.
Lastly, while everyone is betting on AI to transform the world, nothing beats a story written by someone who gives their experience and insights so you can better understand a field’s panorama.
Artifact is free to download, and you can find it on the App Store here.
