Post #2008698

2026-05-04 18:32 UTC

The only thing that died was Google Reader, and that didn't come close to "taking down RSS". Today there are more options for reading and authoring RSS/Atom feeds than there ever were in the past. We've never had this many good apps and services in the RSS/Atom ecosystem. I think there were some really interesting aspects of Google Reader that I do regret losing. But it's just so weird to hear people say things like "Ahh yes, RSS, that was a very elegant thing, I'm nostalgic for the days when we had that..." It's like being nostalgic for the good old days when the sun used to go up in the morning and come down in the evening. It's still doing that!

Replies (5)

@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz 2026-05-04 18:38

The other thing that died, I guess, was the enthusiasm in the Big Web industry to jam RSS everywhere. There was a lot of weird hype back in those days, and for some reason people thought they could make money from it. Of course, the reality was the opposite: RSS empowers the *operators* of Internet-capable devices, rather than the parasites who try to extract money from the Web. That is why the weird hype died and megacorporations stopped making weird announcements about how they are transforming everything with RSS. But that stuff was never the soul of it, and it didn't matter at all.

Open ##2008699
@eldaking@weirder.earth 2026-05-05 00:31

@jonmsterling For me, the one thing that died was Firefox' "live feeds" feature. I still miss it, there isn't really any replacement that works quite the same. I actually never heard of Google Reader while it was alive.

Open ##2008717
@Owlor@meow.social 2026-05-06 04:38

@jonmsterling I did find that it was kind of hard as someone not very tech-savy to figure out what to actually, like, use RSS for because there isn't really a go-to reader anymore. But now I use the livemark firefox extention to get updating bookmarks of the blogs and webcomics I follow. And I could definitely use something else if I wanted a different experience, it's wonderfully flexible that way.

Open ##2064155
@blag@typo.social 2026-05-06 14:08

@jonmsterling What readers do you recommend that are free, very user-friendly and, ideally, mobile applications? I pay for @feedbin and appreciate its value, but I feel that those new to RSS/Atom need a stepping stone by way of a free service that they can quickly get going with on their phone.

Open ##2124913
@mudri@mathstodon.xyz 2026-05-11 07:57

@jonmsterling@mathstodon.xyz In a slightly different area, I bet some people are already nostalgic for the days when you could look things up on Wikipedia and get reliable information without feeling guilty about using so much electricity and water.

Open ##2433447