Interesting: RSS (Really Simple Syndication)

RSS is a nifty little technology that’s been around since before Wix, Blogger, WordPress and WordPress.com. It defines a standard format for a text file so you can easily get updates from blogs and news sites all over the internet, no matter what platform they live on.

RSS was really popular back in the days before Facebook and Twitter. It connected thousands (ahem, millions) of people from all around the world. Google monopolised audiences with its famed Google Reader app before retiring it in 2015, after realising you can’t make money off content that lives on the free and open web. Unfortunately, this had the effect of confusing and turning people away from RSS, because why would you put your time and energy into setting up your RSS feed reader if it’s just going to get taken away from you?

But the truth is, RSS was never taken away from us. Not in the same way MySpace and LiveJournal were, and definitely not in the same way Twitter is being taken from us now.

RSS is still here and has always been here

If your favourite writers blog on Wordpress, on Blogger, on Mastodon, on Micro.blog, on Write.as, on Bear Blog, or – like me – on a quiet homegrown website, you can follow them all without having to sign up for each individual platform.

Just by using RSS.

(By the way, here's a nifty blog post by writer and sustainability planner Tracy Durnell: What makes RSS better than social timelines?)

How to follow blogs using RSS

To follow blogs using RSS, you only need to sign up for one platform – an RSS feed reader. Even better, some RSS feed readers are just little apps that run on your device, so you don’t have to sign up for anything or log in anywhere.

First, go to your RSS feed reader of choice and add a subscription (sometimes they call it “subscribe to feed” or “add a feed”, you’ll find it). It’ll show you a text field where it’s expecting the address of an RSS feed.

Now, head to the blog you want to follow and look for their RSS feed link. Mine is at the bottom of my blog (yep, scroll all the way down), but some writers put it in their sidebar or link to it with the famous RSS icon (usually orange in colour). Copy the link somehow, then paste it into the text field in your RSS feed reader.

And voilà! Watch the posts come rolling in.

Why is RSS so important right now?

As a reader and a writer, I’m a huge fan of RSS feeds because they stand against the downsides of what the web has become. RSS lets readers stay connected to blogs and podcasts, etc. without being shackled to something like an "enshittified" social media platform.

You can still use those platforms if you choose, but the whole point is you have more choice. You can still follow a favourite author who posts on their own website without the obligation of social media companies that make money by selling your data to advertisers, insurance companies, and other parties who can use that information against you.

For writers, RSS is a tool that helps facilitate independence on the web, rather than relying solely on digital sharecropping (creating content for a website you don't own) for connecting with an audience.

What RSS feed readers are good?

There are SO MANY options for RSS feed readers, and they all look a little different in order to cater to different preferences. But they all more or less do the same job -- grab information and give it to you in an easily accessible format. Here are a few RSS feed readers:

Feedly
A free, nice looking, web-based RSS reader with its own iOS and Android mobile apps. The free plan lets you subscribe to 100 feeds and inserts sponsored ads into the content. I used Feedly for many years after Google Reader died.

The Old Reader
A free, web-based RSS reader that not only offers its own app, but works with a bunch of different reader apps as well. This feature is called “interoperability” and can be one way to tell whether a company cares about the people using its products. The free plan lets you subscribe to 100 feeds.

Inoreader
A free, web-based RSS reader. The free plan lets you subscribe to 150 feeds and includes the ability to save webpages to read later.

Feedbin
A paid web-based RSS reader that also lets you follow newsletters and YouTube channels. Feedbin works with a range of different reader apps as well.

Thunderbird
A free and open-source all-in-one app for email, newsgroups (Usenet), and RSS. Thunderbird is run by a subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation, the same organisation that brings you Firefox and Pocket.

Reeder
A paid Mac/iPhone/iPad app. If you use iCloud, you can sync your feeds across your devices. Alternatively, this app works with both The Old Reader and Feedbin.

Newsboat
NERD ALERT: A free and open-source RSS reader for the text console, runs on Unix and Unix-like systems (including macOS). This is the RSS reader I use because it’s super simple and lets me manage my subscriptions with a single text file. I would only recommend this to people who identify as at least semi-technical and are comfortable working in the command line.

offpunk
SUPER NERD ALERT: A free and open-source offline browser for http, gemini and gopher protocols, runs in the text console on Unix and Unix-like systems (including MacOS). It lets you subscribe not just to RSS feeds, but to webpages that change over time. Another reader recommended for technical people.

20/09/2023: Added Tracy Durnell's article
14/09/2023: Updated for clarity.