1. What is Social Reading and Social Watching?
Social Reading and Social Watching will change how you browse the web. By letting you connect with friends around reading news and watching videos, Social Reading and Social Watching make the web more interactive and enjoyable, and also helps you find relevant content quickly.
Here's the difference between Social Reading and Lonely Reading:
Here's the difference between Social Reading and Lonely Reading:
2. Why will I love Social Reading and Social Watching?
In addition to saving you time and finding the most relevant news quickly, here are three main reasons why you'll love Social Reading:
These friends can include both friends who use RockMelt as well as non-RockMelt friends who read articles on Facebook-supported sites (please see below for a list of sites).
Additionally, clicking on your friends' pictures allows you to see a list of articles they've recently read. Do you have the same taste as your friends? Did your friend read that article before you? You'll love how easy it is to find new articles.
Reason #2: See what’s popular and trending online
With Social Reading, you can quickly discover what's the hottest news online. Apps that support Social Reading will have three new highlighted sections at the top that show you the most popular news:
- Hot In My Network refers to news that's most read by your friends
- Top Story refers to news that's most read by your friends and other RockMelters
- Trending refers to recent news that's most read by friends and other RockMelters
If you're like us and constantly short on time, you'll love this feature.
Reason #3: Help friends find new content
With Social Reading and Social Watching, you don't have to email or post that funny article on your friend's wall - they'll see your reading recommendations automatically. When Social is turned on for a particlar app, the links you click on -- as well as links on sites where Social Reading and Social Watching are supported -- will be instantly shared:
- Inside the apps of friends who use RockMelt
- On your timeline on Facebook.com
- On your friends' news feed and activity ticker on Facebook.com
3. How do I get started with Social Reading and Social Watching?
Getting started is easy:
First, click here to open the App Center in RockMelt, and add the apps you like to your App Edge.
Next, open the apps from the App Edge -- that's it!
Most of the apps in the App Center support Social Reading, including:
We add more sites regularly. Don't see your favorite sites? Let us know by sending an email to questions@rockmelt.com.
First, click here to open the App Center in RockMelt, and add the apps you like to your App Edge.
Next, open the apps from the App Edge -- that's it!
Most of the apps in the App Center support Social Reading, including:
- BBC
- BuzzFeed
- CNN
- Cracked.com
- Engadget
- ESPN
- Fail Blog
- Fox News
- Gizmodo
- Google News
- Huffington Post
- Kotaku
- Life Hacker
- Mashable
- New York Times
- Pitchfork
- Techcrunch
- The Onion
- Wall Street Journal
- And many, many more
We add more sites regularly. Don't see your favorite sites? Let us know by sending an email to questions@rockmelt.com.
4. What if I'm not interested in sharing what I'm reading or watching?
To stop sharing your Social Reading or Social Watching activity with friends, just turn Social off. Turning off Social Reading and Social Watching will also stop showing your activity inside the apps of friends using RockMelt and also stop sharing what you're reading to Facebook.
To turn Social Reading / Social Watching on or off for individual apps, just click on the on or off icon at the top of the App or in the URL bar.
To turn Social Reading / Social Watching on or off for individual apps, just click on the on or off icon at the top of the App or in the URL bar.
To change general Social Reading or Social Watching settings (including turning off Social for all apps), just update the following browser settings:
On Windows: Go to RockMelt menu > Options > Edges tab > Social Reading
On Mac: Go to RockMelt menu > Preferences > Edges tab > Social Reading
To hide or remove individual items from your Timeline, follow the instructions here.
5. Do all sites support Social Reading and Social Watching?
Most apps in the App Center support either Social Reading or Social Watching. As you surf the web and add apps from your favorite sites, you may discover that some apps do not yet support Social Reading and Social Watching. This is because those websites have not made the necessary changes to support Facebook's Open Graph efforts.
Apps that support Social Reading or Social Watching will have the Social icon in the top right corner. Sites that support Social Reading and Social Watching will have the Social on/off toggle in the address bar / omnibar.
Apps that do not have the Social toggle in the top right corner currently don't support Social Reading or Social Watching. Sites that do not have the Social on/off toggle in the address bar / omnibar don't support Social Reading or Social Watching either.
Because Social isn't supported, articles you click on from these apps and sites will not appear in your friends' apps, nor will they be shared to Facebook.com.
Apps that support Social Reading or Social Watching will have the Social icon in the top right corner. Sites that support Social Reading and Social Watching will have the Social on/off toggle in the address bar / omnibar.
Apps that do not have the Social toggle in the top right corner currently don't support Social Reading or Social Watching. Sites that do not have the Social on/off toggle in the address bar / omnibar don't support Social Reading or Social Watching either.
Because Social isn't supported, articles you click on from these apps and sites will not appear in your friends' apps, nor will they be shared to Facebook.com.
Want Social Reading or Social Watching for an app that currently doesn't have it? Let us know by sending an email to questions-at-rockmelt.com.
