Heard is similar to Twitter or Reddit but a few differences that will make it easier for publishers to get evergreen content in front of users. The more users interact, the more precisely Heard can present them with content that is relevant. 

?Heard has special advantages for publishers who have a very broad range of content where discovery becomes an issue,? said Dave Vronay, co-founder and CEO of Heard. 

?Heard is also appealing to publishers with evergreen content that can have a long life,? he said. ?This type of content is undervalued in the world of Twitter, Reddit and Instagram, where if it didn?t happen in the last 30 minutes it doesn?t matter.?

Heard, a Web app available across mobile, tablet and desktop, was named one of Forbes? 15 social media companies to watch in 2015. 

The new publisher channels were announced on Friday at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, TX.  

The Huffington Post and Funny or Die will be able to repurpose past content with the goal of getting it in front of the appropriate eyes. They will also be able to distribute breaking news. 

Heard?s platform is similar to Netflix?s in that the algorithm is built to feed content to groups of people who share similar interests. 

Users can remain anonymous or use badges to identify themselves based on their employment, with an eye toward demonstrating that they have knowledge of a certain topic.

Heard does not require friends or followers to give personalized recommendations. Instead, the site continuously computes the relevance of each piece of content to each user in real time with the goal of minimizing irrelevant content. 

Heard also does not use personal information.  To add reputation and credibility to posts, users are urged to leverage badging. A badge is a verified fact about a user. For example, someone can something as a verified Apple employee, but no one - not even Heard - can figure out exactly who the employee is.

To use Heard, consumers turn it on to view a continuous stream of content. When they see something they like, they can open it and read more, promote or demote it, read comments or add their own comments. 

The more users interact, the more precisely Heard can send them things they like. 

?We have different channels made for different types of content,? Mr. Vronay said. ?Some channels are run by publishers but others are just open and anyone can post new content - photos, text, even polls and predictions.  

?The more people who like your stuff, the more it will spread to others. On the other hand, if you post a bunch of spam and junk you will quickly find you are only talking to yourself.?

Final Take

Chantal Tode is senior editor on Mobile Marketer, New York