Escape the walled garden and algorithm black boxes with RSS feeds
RSS and Atom feeds provide a decentralized alternative to algorithm-driven content, allowing users to filter preferences, discover various content types, and maintain control over personal data through self-hosting.
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The article discusses the advantages of using RSS and Atom feeds as alternatives to algorithm-driven content consumption on centralized platforms like Twitter and Facebook. It highlights the frustrations users face with these platforms, where content is often influenced by external agendas rather than personal preferences. RSS and Atom feeds provide a decentralized way to access content, allowing users to filter and prioritize what they consume. The article outlines various methods to find and utilize feeds, including for meetups, YouTube channels, podcasts, and newsletters. It also mentions tools for discovering new content and emphasizes the importance of self-hosting feed readers to maintain control over personal data. The conclusion encourages users to embrace decentralized systems to avoid the pitfalls of proprietary algorithms and to ensure their content is accessible without reliance on third-party platforms.
- RSS and Atom feeds offer a decentralized alternative to algorithm-driven content consumption.
- Users can filter and prioritize content according to their preferences using feed readers.
- Various methods exist to find and utilize feeds for different types of content, including events and podcasts.
- Self-hosting feed readers is recommended for better control over personal data.
- Embracing decentralized systems can help users avoid the negative impacts of proprietary algorithms.
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31 commentsA good way to find interesting blogs is to subscribe to a few planets.
These are essentially aggregations of blog related to some project/topic.
https://planet.gnome.org/ https://planet.kde.org/ https://planet.mozilla.org/ https://planet.documentfoundation.org/
PS. If you know any good planets worth skimming, please add to below :)
That said, I don't really have a good RSS reader that syncs across devices. I currently use Feedly, but it tries to be too smart.
diff.blog tracks over 2000 dev blogs at the moment.
And you can also follow blogs and topics.
It's yahoo pipes clone - so you can mix and filter RSS feeds that you want.
I wish it was easier to find out what my friends have been up to without getting them to sign up for some platform they’ve never heard of, then post in multiple places in perpetuity, and move on again when that platform also goes to shit.
A hard problem but surely not unsolvable. It belongs in a pg “please solve these big problems” essay.
Not that this is novel in any way, but I just started a repo call Subcurrent yesterday for the Astoria Tech Meetup in NYC at our Saturday hack session. Subcurrent aims to provide a feed aggregator page made of our community members' feeds. https://github.com/astoria-tech/subcurrent
I did not know that Meetup.com exposes RSS feeds at all, so I will be adding that to our Subcurrent instance since our group keeps events on Meetup.com.
I had never heard of Kill the Newsletter, but I'm a fan sight-unseen. Substack at least has feeds. You can append `/feed` to the newsletter's URL.
Thanks for writing this!
I'm working on a feed reader, called Lighthouse (https://lighthouseapp.io/). It combines RSS feeds with read-it-later, by putting new content into Inbox, where you can either archive or bookmark. Bookmarked content shows up in Library.
It's fantastic for content curation.
I'm trying to build a new corner of the old web with my social link sharing site https://lynkmi.com, and every tag automatically has an RSS feed so you don't need to know anything about them to set one up, or even need an account to follow one.
The main idea is instead of following everything a person posts you can just follow a subset of their interests. So if I post about Irish Dairy Innovations [0] and also about Advice [1] you can follow whichever combination of those you like.
If you'd like to sign up, my email is in my bio. And if you don't want to sign up, my email is still in my bio.
[0] https://lynkmi.com/oisin/Irish%2520dairy%2520innovation [1] https://lynkmi.com/oisin/advice
I use my own set of domains to find places on the internet [0].
A working example how it could be used is at [1]. It is a domain viewer in javascript.
I also use my own RSS client [2] that stores all links in [3], but don't get me wrong, I also have my storage for bookmarks [4]
Links:
[0] https://github.com/rumca-js/Internet-Places-Database
[1] https://rumca-js.github.io/quickstart/public/static_lists/vi...
[2] https://github.com/rumca-js/Django-link-archive
"News" are not actually that easy to automate as in "serialising posts".
Big companies are experimenting with UI all the time for a reason.
Especially because it would involve a lot of heuristics.
If you like your email in mutt, then you'll probably like your feeds in newsboat.
Plus, RSS feeds combines the reg videos + short videos into single feed.
I follow several feeds and Youtube channels.
Reeder have a very smooth experience.
it really is rad to add my most read users to the feed.
Chronological feeds are awful. You'll never see anything from the people who post occasionally because they get drowned out by the people who are posting all the time.
There may be some algorithms that deliberately magnify hate because that's a way to increase engagement, but if you want to create one of those algorithms you can make a training set based on chronological feed + boosting/retweets/reposts.
I'm amazed at how people keep making failing RSS readers that keep failing with the same failing user interfaces that have been failing since 1999; everybody knows RSS has been failing but they never ask why or if we have a choice.
We still see the readers that make you mark things as read, that take their cues from email and newsreaders, that, when you subscribe to N feeds show you N boxes with a list of items, etc.
My RSS reader works like TikTok because I'm not afraid of algorithms.
Related
Be Using an RSS Reader
Cory Doctorow advocates for using RSS readers to improve online privacy and control, arguing that collective action is needed to combat systemic issues caused by major platforms and their algorithms.
Appreciation of the mark-all-as-read button
The article praises the "mark all as read" button in RSS readers for enhancing user control and providing a distraction-free environment, contrasting it with the overwhelming nature of social media.
Decentralized Syndication – The Missing Internet Protocol
The article introduces RSDS, a new decentralized syndication protocol addressing limitations of RSS. It features domain names as IDs, simplified hosting, anti-spam measures, and user control over content and licensing.
I Ditched the Algorithm for RSS–and You Should Too
The article advocates for RSS feeds over social media algorithms, highlighting their ability to curate quality content, reduce information overload, and providing guidance on setting them up for various platforms.
I've been advocating for RSS support, and you should too
The blog post emphasizes the importance of RSS for news updates, sharing personal advocacy for its support from organizations, and encouraging readers to use feed reader apps for better content control.