The Atomic Blog

A few weeks ago, Facebook launched its most recent project, Facebook Stories, which draws from the experiences of everyday users to populate an online magazine at FacebookStories.com. Each month, the social platform chooses a particular theme and invites the public to submit personal stories related to it. The best stories are showcased on the site and accompanied by an infographic relevant to the theme. August’s topic is “remembering.”

(via FacebookStories.com)

Hot on the trail of Facebook, Tumblr just announced the launch of its latest endeavor, Reblorg. The page has a whole different flavor, complete with off-beat .gifs, videos and images. In order to land a spot on Reblorg, users must submit brand new, original work. So far, there are flying hotdogs, epic Devo/Karate Kid collages and plenty of cheeseburgers.

(via Reblorg.com)

Both sites take advantage of the cool stuff people generate in their day-to-day lives and how social media makes this creation possible and shareable. And, of course, both sites stand to gain from doing so. For starters, Facebook is looking to soften its image in the public eye after getting flack for being loosey-goosey with members’ privacy settings. On the flipside, Tumblr is battling the perception that many of its users don’t produce original content.

I like the idea of Facebook showing a fuller picture of how its platform can serve users in more meaningful ways than alerting people of their friends’ status updates. If Facebook Stories takes off, it could establish the social network as a global publisher that gives a voice to people from across the world. Of the two, I’m actually more excited about Reblorg. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, it’s easy to get involved with and it’s a total free-for-all. Sounds like ideal conditions for some pretty kooky creations.