The Revival of RSS

This title comes from a WIRED article – It's Time for an RSS Revival.

In the early days of the internet (around 1999 to 2009), I was just a kid in elementary school to junior high, and my understanding of the internet and browsers was limited to just browsing webpages. It wasn’t until I delved into web development that I realized how great an invention RSS Feed is.

The idea of standardizing web content for other websites to fetch and use as early as 1999 is something I find incredibly impressive. It aligns well with the spirit of open sharing on the internet, although that notion feels especially ironic today.

I wonder if anyone else, like me, occasionally misses that simple and unadorned era.

Nowadays, many people get their information from mainstream social media, shifting from actively seeking information to passively receiving notifications—scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, then perhaps Threads. Meanwhile, algorithms manipulate you to become more addicted since the platform's goal is to keep you there longer.

To be honest, I’ve been deeply poisoned too; after scrolling through some videos, time just vanishes. Even though I’ve tried hard to mold the algorithm to show me what I want, pointless content like Coke and Mentos, ping-pong into cups, or high school girls showing off with cute dances still pops up sometimes.

Some videos do make me happy, but the pleasure is fleeting. Once you watch one highly addictive pointless video, you keep craving the next one, and the next one, and the next…

Closed Social Platforms

Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, when you want to glance at a post, sometimes you can't see it without logging in, or they might only show you a portion of it, requiring you to log in to view comments or the full content.

For those who don’t use social media, this becomes terribly inconvenient as your content gets trapped within the platform. This goes against the original ethos of the internet.

Netflix has a documentary I quite like called "The Social Dilemma," which primarily talks about the effect of social media’s algorithms and the likes system.

One quote from the documentary left a deep impression on me:

There are only two industries that refer to their customers as “users”: illegal drugs and software.

Undeniably, I’ve also made good friends through social media, even meeting up for dinner. I don’t deny the connections it brings between people, but we should recognize the platform's motives and the sacrifices that come with enjoying those conveniences.

Does Your Website Support RSS?

So how do we break free from the constraints of social platforms? The answer is simple: Don’t just put your content on social platforms.

Write your content on a blog, ideally using your own domain and hosting (including rented hosting). This way, you won’t be hampered by algorithms, and your high-quality work won’t be walled off on a platform.

Another way is to use more open platforms, such as Mastodon or Bluesky. With Mastodon, anyone can create a space as long as they have a server; Bluesky’s API is fully free, and you can even use AT Protocol to monitor posts and integrate them into your service.

Another critical point is to incorporate RSS support wherever possible. When I'm writing blogs or building content-heavy websites, I always make RSS a priority, and it's best to include the full text in the feed. Some RSS feeds intentionally truncate content, meaning you still need to visit the original site to read the full article.

I’m personally not a fan of this approach. A big reason for subscribing to RSS is to have control over how I consume content, whether it's in Discord, some RSS service, or even a terminal (okay, terminal might be pushing it), but missing out on the full article means I still end up having to open the website.

What if your favorite site doesn’t support RSS? Open-source software like RSSHub solves that problem. You define how the data should be structured, and RSSHub helps generate the RSS feed.

Find creators you enjoy, subscribe to their RSS feed, and if they don’t have one, email them to let them know it’s important. This is also a way to reclaim control from social platforms.

Popular services like inoreader or feedly are worth checking out. If you enjoy my blog and articles, feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed too!

The Ideals and Realities of RSS

At its core, RSS is simply a format specification. Once it's published, services that consume RSS content fetch the XML file and display the content in their UI.

But this simplistic design struggles a bit in the modern age, as webpages now feature many interactive elements, and XML’s content rendering is limited. For articles that include more than just text and images, readability will inevitably suffer.

As the amount of content grows, these services that consume RSS content will need filtering, categorizing features, and possibly even AI summaries, lest they get drowned in content overload. Filtering is, after all, a form of algorithm, and without any filters, you're still faced with a sea of content.

Compared to social platforms, there is a fundamental difference: you control the filtering criteria, and the sea of content you face comes from RSS feeds you chose to subscribe to. Even if not every post is of interest, at least you’re curating content that you’ve chosen.

So where do you start looking for high-quality RSS feeds to subscribe to? Unfortunately, it’s back to scouring social platforms for that needle in a haystack, or hoping that RSS services can provide this feature. I think the best approach is to become a quality creator yourself, and in time, you’ll attract like-minded, high-quality creators ❤️.

Follow

Follow is an RSS service currently in development, created by DIYGod, who also developed RSSHub and xlog. Recently, it’s gained a lot of buzz on Twitter, with many people wanting invite codes to try it out.

Besides the usual features of an RSS service, it includes a virtual currency reward system, and the UI looks amazing. I haven’t tried it myself yet, but I’m excited to see it go live soon!

Battling for Attention

I really like leafwind’s article on The Sixth Estate, which mentions:

If the Fourth and Fifth Estates are about "the right to freely publish content," then the Sixth Estate (attention rights) is about "the right to control what you are able to see," and the loss of attention rights is one of the biggest problems in modern media.

The article also discusses how to put this into practice, and I highly recommend giving it a read!

Twitter used to be my favorite social platform, where I could casually rant, complain, or share technical thoughts and ideas. Now, my feed is cluttered with ads and all kinds of captivating yet terrible short videos. But I still can’t help clicking on them. When I post something, I become overly concerned about how many likes it gets.

I want to distance myself from these toxic algorithms and platforms. I also want to share with you how important it is to realize this. Over time, the things you watch can mold your thoughts; seeing the seemingly perfect lives others portray on social media can make you feel bad about your own, despite everyone facing their own struggles.

Lastly, here's something I started doing last year: I’ve been slowly reaching out to developers and creators I admire, writing them letters. It lets them know people support them, which is an important source of motivation. Although I haven’t received many responses, knowing that my work has helped others, and receiving gratitude for the articles or services I provide, is always a joyous feeling!