If you find yourself frustrated with increasingly algorithm driven news feeds on your favorite social networks, you’ve got an alternative: RSS. It’s relatively ancient by internet years, it’s not trendy, and it’s super predictable. And that’s why I love it.
Years ago I remember having a packed Google Reader account loaded with interesting articles and topics. I could selectively curate exactly the stuff I wanted to read, and it was, at least in the early days, a great way to avoid the clunky interfaces and advertising of the source material. Most importantly, I could control what I saw and in what order. A luxury I apparently took for granted, because for some reason I eventually abandoned RSS in favor of Twitter and other social sites for my news curation. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.
The social web had it solved. You wouldn’t have to worry about finding specific material – your network would surface it for you. And to some extent, that promise was real and valuable. But it meant the stuff I already wanted to read often got lost in the noise.
So today, I’m still using twitter and linkedin for some news curation, but my primary go-to is now RSS once more. If you’re frustrated with the material you’re getting from your social feeds – give it a try.
P.S. I’m using Feedly as my RSS reader.