I ditched the algorithm for RSS

Post by whatevertrevor » Fri, Jan 17, 2025, 9:28 AM UTC

artisanspam wrote: post #119

I love RSS. I use RSS daily. I use link-aggregation websites like HN to find interesting authors and subscribe to any RSS feeds that they have. Highlights from my reader sync automatically into my Obsidian vault. It's great. But I know I, and everyone else posting in this thread, are in the minority. It's clear that most people prefer algorithmic drip in a walled garden. There's a reason everyone flocks to those plat…

Post by Dalewyn » Fri, Jan 17, 2025, 9:58 AM UTC

Avamander wrote: post #229

Dalewyn wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back like 15 to 20 years ago when I ran or helped manage some hobbyist websites, I added RSS functionality if only because it was "popular" back then. I can confidently tell you not a single bloody soul used it, at the height of adoption no less. If I run a website again I definitely won't bother, it's additional maintenance for a feature nobody uses. The cost-to-benefit ratio makes no sense because the benefit is ze…

It heavily depends on the target audience, I'd say. Especially if it's not ubiquitous.

Post by nejsjsjsbsb » Fri, Jan 17, 2025, 10:49 AM UTC

danielspace23 wrote: post #92

RSS and the lack of algorithms may sound nice, until you subscribe to the feed of a couple of media outlets, and see the content of the independent creators that post less often get buried under a truckload of "stuff you're vaguely interested in". BlueSky kinda addresses this issue with Feeds. I follow the people that post at a frequency that I know won't flood my main feed, then I have pinned a separate feed for new…

Post by Fnoord » Fri, Jan 17, 2025, 11:25 AM UTC

basscomm wrote: post #184

subract wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The post proposes a solution to the overload of subscribing to subreddits by subscribing to a search for only the top posts from the subreddit.

I don't use reddit, so I'm probably missing something, but subscribing to only the 'best' posts doesn't sound like a way to find the 'hidden gems', it sounds more like a way to subscribe to whatever the users of the subreddit have collectively voted up that particular day.

Post by jeroenhd » Fri, Jan 17, 2025, 12:01 PM UTC

sneak wrote: post #172

netghost wrote: post #87

The one thing that kills me is the number of "modern" blogs/sites that don't offer rss or atom is really frustrating. If I really like your site, please let me be an engaged reader and let me know when you have something valuable to say again! I've even resorted to adding features in my personal feedreader to seek out common feed locations or APIs that common blogging tools leave on mostly unnoticed.

I regularly get emails from people asking where my RSS feed is on my site (or why I don’t have one) when every page on it has the link tags in the header that allow it to be autodiscovered.