Why is RSS superior?
I’ve been using “reeder classic” app for reading blogs and news for a few months now. I love its simplicity however, sadly you have to pay separately for Mac and IPhone version. Thank god it’s one time payment, and not a subscription that suck money forever. But why do I use RSS reader in the first place?
No algorithmic feed
Unlike social media, it isn’t filtered based on how many people or mutuals have liked the post. It is shown chronologically. It never tries to keep you scrolling for longer than you want. The feed belongs to you and your liking, not an algorithm.
Privacy and control
With RSS, you decide what to follow and what not. There are no endless recommendations, or “you might like this” shit. You will never see more than you deliberately subscribed to. Also, it doesn't track you. It doesn’t use cookies, trackers or analytics, it just pulls XML files out of the website’s server. Moreover, it isn’t owned by any company, so no one can unexpectedly put a paywall on it or shut it down. If an RSS reader app dies, you can export your subscriptions using an OPML file and import them into another app.
Offline and lightweight
Modern sites are hostile. Random videos play in the background, advertisements pop up where you need to wait to skip them, and hundred more articles are being recommended on the sidebars. RSS readers just show plain text, links, and images.
Future-proof
Platforms rise and fall. RSS is stable because it’s simple and universal. People were using it 20 years ago and will still be using it in 20 years (hopefully), because it’s just XML.
Social feeds come and go. Platforms shut down (ex. Google+, Digg, Vine). Companies pivot to new business models. But as long as people will keep including rss to their blogs it will be there forever.
Here are my own current subscriptions: https://files.catbox.moe/ot2857.opml
Enjoyed the article? Subscribe to my RSS feed :D