Introducing: Pulse Highlights

We believe news is no longer just about broadcasting—it’s a conversation.

With Pulse Highlights, we’re starting the conversation.

Pulse Highlights is a community for news. It’s about discovering and sharing the stories that really matter—the important, interesting, or enriching pieces that you want others to experience. That’s why we’ve focused on an intimate and trusted group: your friends. Highlights showcases the stories you care about, and it’s powered by the people you care about.

Check out your Highlights feed by tapping ‘Highlights’ at the top of the left navigation bar. You’ll see stories shared by your friends, and you can add your own by tapping the blue Highlights icon at the bottom of any article. You can still share to your other favorite social networks—all through the new Highlights button.

We’ve also fleshed out profiles: tap the Friends icon in the top right of your Highlights feed, select your friend’s profile, and see all of their Highlights in one clean view.

Highlights is out now for Android. Download it from the Play Store! Highlights for iOS is waiting for approval.

It took several iterations before we settled on Highlights as the name of our new feature. Our whiteboard was covered with terms from ‘sharing’ to ‘recommending’ to ‘liking’, but we ultimately felt that Highlights best captures what we’re trying to convey: thoughtful and timely curation, discovery and empowerment, and the freedom to share content of any kind or tone. News can be more than just ‘liking’—it’s about highlighting what’s important, inspiring, enlightening, and more.

Pulse has always been about sources. We’ve focused on putting your favorite publications, social networks, blogs, and beyond in your hands, in one clean interface. With Highlights, discovery is about people: close friends and family sharing content that’s interesting and relevant for you.

Is a story’s worth based on number of shares? We believe in quality over quantity: we don’t think an article needs 500+ ‘likes’ to make it interesting, inspiring, or share-worthy. Highlights is based on your personal network, so if a close friend or family member cares about a story, you’ll see it in your feed.

Get a quick snapshot of the day’s important news, specially tailored to your personal community. Then stay part of the conversation: we’ll send you notifications for shares or comments on stories you’ve highlighted.

With our recent launch of social feeds and with Highlights, we’re just scratching the surface of what’s coming in Pulse. Be prepared for an amazing 2013, where a lot of exciting things are going to be launching and building on this platform.

We have many ideas for the future, but we know our community can help us reach even greater heights. Share your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter.