As someone working in tech, I’ve always had a list of interesting websites that I often read and learn from. My bookmark bar would have a folder dedicated to these websites. Every day, I would visit them one by one, checking if there was anything new that excited me to read.
However, that way of keeping up with tech writers wasn’t efficient. I knew where the good publishers were, but I didn’t know WHEN they had a new article. I had to periodically check. I call this pull-based reading. If you’re like me and are looking for a change, read on!
What is RSS?#
RSS is an old technology and very well-known in the 2000s. The latest version RSS 2.0 was standardized in 2002. An RSS feed is an XML document that has the core structure like so:
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item>
<title>Entry Title</title>
<link>URL</link>
<pubDate>Timestamp</pubDate>
</item>
... more items here
</channel>
</rss>A publisher exposes this feed from a URL on their website. To consume, we use an RSS reader to subscribe to these feeds. The RSS reader would periodically check for updates. From my perspective, this is push-based reading since the content is pushed to me automatically.
Why is it great?#
There are a few reasons:
- It saves time. I don’t have to manually scan my favorite websites for new content. Doing so could also distract me with unpredictable, non-sensical things that might appear.
- RSS feeds are chronological. Some blog writing platforms use algorithms to show you what’s hot/trending. I don’t like algorithms dictating what I should read.
- RSS readers often have a clean “reading view” that basically scrapes the article’s text and render it like a book. Distraction-free 🧘.
- Some RSS readers can even subscribe to newsletters. Browser bookmarks can’t do that.
Ever since I switched to using RSS, I have felt a great increase in my high-quality content intake and less doom-scrolling. There’s also very little need to maintain my favorite website list — most of the time I just subscribe and forget.
Any cons?#
Free RSS readers are very barebone:
- Most of them don’t keep your reading history forever.
- No cross-device syncing.
- No newsletters support.
- Reading view is just a webview.
To get a really good experience, I had to look for some paid solutions. But that’s a topic for another day.
NOTE: This website also has an RSS feed. You can subscribe to it here to keep up with my content. Thank you! 🙇♂️