my6sense, the iPhone application and API focused on hyperpersonalization and digital intuition - aimed to simulate your own sixth sense and surface relevant content, issued a new update to their app this week which goes beyond your selected RSS feeds or social streams and recommends items from the extended community that are very likely relevant to you. The idea? That as the application grows to know you and your personal preferences better over time, that it knows of content out there you may find very interesting, but didn't already have in your subscriptions list. It's essentially the same personalization that has separated the product from competition, but with a new wrinkle - the element of surprise.As I've highlighted a number of times since I first was introduced to the app, and as I have grown to know the team and the technology through working with them at Paladin Advisors Group, my6sense's core function is to implicitly watch your behavior and learn through your own activity what content you like and don't like, what sources you like and those you don't, essentially curbing the growing issue of information overload, reducing the time you need to find the best content tailored for your interests from hours to minutes.
The New Update's Features In iTunes
But even the most aggressive content consumers, like myself, can't subscribe to everything and find every article. As the number of people using my6sense has grown, the company has more data on what users have the most similar digital intuition profiles to you, and can surface relevant pieces of content that would score highly in your own streams, but don't require you to be subscribed.
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These items, which are sifted into your "Relevance feed" in the app, are highlighted as recommended items. Should you want to subscribe to the source, you can just click the "+Subscribe" button and add that feed to your library.
Other feed and stream readers have also tried to surface content to which you are not subscribed, mostly by relying on what your social circle has liked. Google Buzz surfaces content of people you don't follow thanks to friends' activity, while Google Reader shows recommended feeds or posts that have proven popular. But the move is a small change in direction for my6sense, who to date has built their streams solely on the content you bring to the table.
The new update, available on the iTunes Store, is free, and is an automatic upgrade for existing users.
Disclosure: my6sense is a client of Paladin Advisors Group, where I am Managing Editor of New Media. My comments on the company's product are always independent, and do not pass their way in advance.