I’d like to summarize the story of RSS, as I understand it, as it applies to web content today.

Preface: Many others have written about RSS, with more depth and clarity. Arbitrarily, here are two that I enjoyed:

The story of RSS as I relate to it:

RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary) is a web protocol.

Once upon a time, users bookmarked sites and returned regularly to check for updates. Checking each site is tedious and leads to missed updates and information fatigue. RSS allows users to subscribe to sites they enjoy, and receive updates when they occur.

It was a popular protocol, and was widely implemented by bloggers, news publishers, and other content producers. Unfortunately, the rise of social sharing (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) undermined the usage of feed readers. These companies have an incentive to keep users trapped in their advertising bubbles, and feed reader clients are not as easily monetized. One of the most popular RSS readers, Google Reader, was famously retired in 2013.

Fast forward to now. In an era of “fake news” and “predatory advertising”, web users are using RSS to receive the broadcasts that they actually want to read.

Does that sound appealing to you? Stop reading your Facebook Newsfeed and start collecting RSS feeds today!

Ps. If you listen to podcasts, you’re probably using RSS! Podcast clients typically fetch their media from RSS feeds.

Pps. By referring to “RSS”, I’m talking about web feeds in general, including the Atom protocol.