RSS is still the best way to track the news on the web, and these RSS readers can keep you right up to date.

Whatever the linguistic details, one of the main roles of RSS is to supply directly to you a steady stream of updates from a website. Every new article published on that site is served up in a list that can be interpreted by an RSS reader.

Unfortunately, RSS is no longer how most of us consume “content.” (Google famously killed its beloved Google Reader more than a decade ago.) It’s now the norm to check social media or the front pages of many different sites to see what’s new. But I think RSS still has a place in your life: Especially for those who don’t want to miss anything or have algorithms choosing what they read, it remains one of the best ways to navigate the internet. Here’s a primer on what RSS can (still!) do for you, and how to get started with it, even in this late era of online existence.

  • toofpic@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1152·
    11 months ago

    Google Reader shutdown has completely changed the way I was ingesting information. It was so convenient, I always had 2-3 days worth of articles, web comics and news for reading.
    Another problem was that many sites shifted to providing only parts of articles instead of full versions, and it was still the time when I wasn’t always online to finish reading.

    • vinniep@lemmy.worldEnglish
      43·
      11 months ago

      The Google Reader shutdown hit me hard also. They offered all of the features in a really great app and many of the competitors shut down in their wake, so when they exited the scene, it left a huge hole.

      • SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.worldEnglish
        27·
        11 months ago

        I jumped to Feedly and have been using that ever since. After they killed reader, I’ve been very hesitant of using any new Google product, expecting and seeing them all inevitably die.

        • AtariDump@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          11 months ago

          Seconded. Back when Feedly had a “pay one price” special for Google reader refugees.

    • kratoz29@lemm.eeEnglish
      71·
      11 months ago

      Another problem was that many sites shifted to providing only parts of articles instead of full versions

      That annoys me so much, that is the number one reason why I use Feeder more than Feedly nowadays (I manually keep them synced, Feedly is multiplatform and Feeder sadly isn’t) as it has a feature to download the page and use their native app view, so much better than going to the site (even with Ublock I’d rather not go unless I want to comment or see comments, which sadly isn’t a thing for most of the sites nowadays).

      • toofpic@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        11 months ago

        Oh, cool, thank you, I’ll check Feeder out. I want my stuff to be on my phone. I’m going to the airport right now, and spending 8,5 hours without internet. It’s funny that I wouldn’t have a problem with that in 2008, but I have now :)

    • pedroapero@lemmy.mlEnglish
      2·
      11 months ago

      I stopped following sites with dubious commercial tactics like the one you mention. After all, information is not so rare these days.