Introduction to RSS feeds

I discovered RSS feeds maybe around 2015 as a teenager. Back then, I didn't find it useful and just found it as a fad. Yes - it was weird since it was around since 1994 but the latest version (RSS 2.0) was still around since 2009. But I was a teenager who never heard of it before.

A few months ago I was able to rediscover them because my favorite Reddit app (Apollo) was closing down. I tried to use the official Reddit app but the UI was just horrendous. So I tried getting off of Reddit and I failed - so I tried to find a solution.

And with that, I discovered that Reddit does use RSS feeds for its subreddits. So I went to find a decent RSS reader and man did I love it more than for the site.

Why RSS?

RSS feeds, or Really Simple Syndication feeds, are a way to stay up-to-date on the latest content from your favorite websites and blogs without having to visit each site individually. When you subscribe to an RSS feed, you're essentially telling a website or blog that you want to be notified of any new content that's published.

In many ways, social media has replaced RSS feeds. It's a shame because I find that the algorithms of many social media apps are terrible at actually telling me if something is new. I regularly see content that's around 5 days old in my Instagram and LinkedIn feed. This is usually good enough except for the times when I find out that the tickets for an event are already sold out.

There's also the fact that if someone isn't on Instagram, there's no way to see them on Instagram. RSS is also like that but if they are on a website, chances are there is another service that can generate a feed for you.

In general, I have three reasons why I use RSS feeds that are not personal (because I am also trying to reduce my social media time ironically):

1. Customizable. You can customize how you view RSS to your liking as well as don't have to fear whether your social media will change its policy. There are a ton of RSS readers (which I'll recommend a few later) which means you don't have to stick with the horrible UX or UI of a social media app.
2. It's dumb. There are no fancy algorithms (although a few RSS readers allow you to do so). It's incredibly simple and you will be the one to handpick the content you actually want to see. There's no more, "Here are some car videos because you searched for how to change my engine oil" from YouTube.
3. Separation of feeds. There are no popular social media apps where you can designate a category as "I'll view this daily" and a category as "I'll view this weekly". For me, I want to view my news feeds daily but my hobby feeds for VGC can be viewed weekly. This is important to me since I do not want the "weekly viewed" feeds to be messing up my news and job feeds.

Tips for RSS feeds

If you want to start using RSS feeds, here are some tips to start:

1. Choose an RSS reader. There are many different RSS readers available, both online and offline. I personally use Miniflux and Reeder but other popular ones include Feedly and Inoreader.

2. Find the RSS feeds for the websites and blogs that you want to subscribe to. Most websites and blogs have an RSS feed icon that you can click on to subscribe to their feed. You can also usually find the RSS feed URL in the footer of a website or blog. If you can't, most feed readers can find it for you if you give them the base url.

   If the feed reader still cannot find it for you, some feed readers allow you to generate them based on the content. You simply have to tell the feed reader where to look specifically.

3. Check your RSS reader regularly. Once you have subscribed to some RSS feeds, you can start checking your RSS reader regularly to see if there is any new content from your favorite websites and blogs.

Conclusion

I'll be the first to admit that RSS isn't dead but it also isn't alive. There are many websites where you cannot access the RSS feed at all (any social media for instance). But there are still many where they are widely supported (any blog or news site on WordPress will support it).

Even with this, I highly recommend giving it a try. You might find it as enjoyable as I do.