Artifact's Ambitious Vision: A New Era for Writers?
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The Rise of Artifact
Artifact, a news aggregation platform co-founded by Instagram creators Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, offers users an organized and AI-enhanced experience akin to Google News. Users can follow various categories and receive news bundles centered around specific topics. While the app may initially feel complex, it becomes more intuitive with continued use.
Since its launch earlier this year, Artifact has seen numerous updates, including user comments (inspired by Reddit), gamification elements like Streaks (thanks to Snapchat), and AI-generated article summaries. These summaries can be tailored to different styles, such as simplified explanations, poetic formats, or even emoji-filled versions.
However, the conversation around Artifact took an intriguing turn when I watched Kevin Systrom's interview with TechCrunch, where he claimed that Artifact could serve as a pivotal platform for writers.
The Role of Writers in the Artifact Ecosystem
As someone who earns a living through writing, I found Systrom's ideas particularly captivating. He suggested that Artifact could provide metrics for both freelance and established writers, allowing them to gauge reader engagement with their work. While services like Contently already exist for consolidating bylines, it's clear that Artifact isn't presenting anything groundbreaking.
Yet, much of the interview felt like a promotional effort for the app, with Systrom seemingly portraying it as an unparalleled boon for writers.
A Contradiction in the Narrative
A statement from Systrom caught my attention: “From the writer side, it feels to me like there’s this trend of writers building more independent followings on Substacks, building more independent followings on Twitter, just for breaking news.” While he acknowledged the challenge of distribution, it appears he overlooks that gaining a following requires active engagement from readers, regardless of the platform.
Systrom seemed to conflate an article's readership with a writer's follower count, which raises concerns about his understanding of writer-reader dynamics.
Artifact's Future: A Marketplace for Writers?
When discussing Artifact's potential, Systrom mentioned creating a marketplace to connect readers with their favorite writers. However, this raises the question: does this add yet another layer of limitation for writers?
The recent discourse surrounding Twitter highlights the difficulty of migrating to new platforms, as many opted to stay put rather than build a new network elsewhere. Systrom's proposed solution for onboarding writers to Artifact? Shadow profiles.
The Implications of Shadow Profiles
Writers who verify their profiles on Artifact might discover they already have a following due to the platform's automatic creation of placeholder profiles for those whose work appears there. This tactic echoes Facebook's methods for expanding its user base. One must wonder if writers were consulted prior to this implementation, especially given Artifact’s extensive news coverage.
One commendable feature of Artifact is that writers who claim their profiles gain access to real-time analytics, allowing them to track how many people have read their articles. This transparency is beneficial, especially when it includes the ability to see if their work has been linked elsewhere.
Systrom emphasized that sometimes the connection is with a publication, while at other times, it’s with an individual article. He expressed a belief that Artifact could fill a gap by creating a distinct writer-reader relationship. However, platforms like Substack and Medium already provide similar features.
A Call for Customization
When Systrom posed the question about writers customizing their content on Artifact, he highlighted features like choosing images, altering titles, and adding context. While this is possible for original content on Artifact or other personal platforms, it’s not as feasible for articles published on news websites with predefined styles.
It’s refreshing to see a news-centric app prioritize writers over readers, and I genuinely wish them success in this endeavor. However, Systrom's tendency to reframe existing concepts as novel innovations may seem disingenuous coming from a founder of his stature.