Weekend Build: Social RSS reader to replace Google Reader

Social "flow" RSS reader http://www.newsriver.ca was a weekend build project to replace Google Reader. While the front page had existed as a concept for a while we never got around to the back end of the project until the demise of Google Reader kicked our asses in gear and the bulk of the usable product was actually done with in six hours. The product soft launched on the 15th and so far has seen a user base of about 300 users so far with minimal advertising efforts.

Currently the RSS reader simply loads in URLs for feeds and dynamically updates them to a "news river" when ever a new post is made. Tie-ins currently are Instapaper and Twitter to allow saving and sharing your favorite content. By the end of the week we will also be support imports of most other major RSS Reader data.

We plan to roll out a major new feature each week over the next few weeks that will focus around social discovery of new feeds, sharing feeds, customizing your workflow, and 3rd party integration (ifttt.com + other social sites).

We also have a full developer API already in place that we plan to document and launch after a few more key features are in place.

We'd love to hear your feedback as we've already been slated for a pitch competition May 3rd!

http://www.newsriver.ca