94 lines
5.2 KiB
HTML
94 lines
5.2 KiB
HTML
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<p>For years I've had an RSS feed for my blog, but I truly haven't used
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RSS myself for my own subscriptions until quite recently. But since
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watching the Luke Smith video on the matter<sup><a href="#r1" >[1]</a></sup>
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I've decided to give it a try, and it has definitely been worth it.</p>
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<p>For those who are not aware, RSS is a standardized and universal way
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of managing subscriptions that has been around since 1999 (although the
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concept is older). The idea is that every site or subscription would
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have an XML file that could be pulled by an RSS client, which would
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contain all (recent) posts. The client would then show this data to the
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user, pointing out the new/unread posts. In other words, basic
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subscription stuff.</p>
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<p>But what makes RSS (or Atom feeds for that matter) so great in this
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regard is what it does for the user - even the least technical user.
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Basically, it's the e-mail of subscriptions: a universal protocol which
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you can use on any server with any client.</p>
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<p>Firstly, there's the freedom on the side of the user to choose which
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client to use. I personally use newsboat because it's the first
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relatively simple curses client I came across, but there are tons more,
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including graphical clients. This is great, since it means that we can
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interface with our subscriptions however we please. I can use a
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curses/terminal environment to manage my subscriptions, and someone else
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can use a graphical environment. Nobody is forced to use something they
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don't want to.</p>
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<p>But perhaps more importantly, RSS permits the decentralization of the
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web. For some reason, we've been relying on built-in subscription
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features for platforms like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc. - I don't
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know what y'all kids are using nowadays - but this just creates a
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dependency on the platform for both the user and the content creators,
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ending up in a feedback loop. Users, who do not want to have accounts on
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several websites for subscriptions, choose a select few platforms to
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create accounts on, which have the most content or their favorite
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content. Because of this, creators are forced to use those platforms if
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they want to get any kind of visibility. As such, it feeds into there
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being a few platforms that have the vast majority of creators and the
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cycle continues. As such, these platforms naturally get to decide what
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content gets to be on their platform and which content we are suggested
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or get to see. It is a way of enslaving both user and creator to their
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platform by creating a dependency on them. Basically, user lock-in -
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what I criticize companies like Apple for.</p>
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<p>With RSS, this is no longer an issue. You can actually subscribe to
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everything in a single place: your RSS client. What's more, you don't
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even have to go looking through the five social media sites you already
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have accounts on, you just open up the one application and you have
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access to all your subscriptions from any platform. This also means that
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for those creators who want independence, they can create their own
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website, add an RSS feed, and they'd be just as easily accessible as a
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person on any other platform.</p>
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<p>And perhaps more importantly, unlike other technologies I propose
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which would require you to create (yet another) account and/or give up
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some of the content you already enjoy, this doesn't require any such
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thing. I myself, using RSS feeds, have subscriptions to YouTube
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channels, podcasts, blogs, etc. and I'm fairly certain that both
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Facebook and Twitter feeds have RSS/Atom feeds. The only thing you'd
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have to do is install a RSS/Atom client and add your subscriptions to
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it. And if you're a content creator with your own site, most (if not
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all) web frameworks (like Wordpress) come with a way of adding an RSS
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feed to your site.</p>
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<p>The world is a much better place when we're not dependent on certain
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platforms or companies. Real competition and development comes when
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clients are able to move freely and at no cost from one provider to
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another. And in this case, that freedom must be enjoyed by both users
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and creators with regards to the platforms they use. This cannot be
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achieved if using a different platform aside from the few major ones
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will automatically make you irrelevant and invisible to the public eye.
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We also need a world where people can have the ability to own their
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creations, instead of being subjected to malicious terms of use which
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tell creators what they can and cannot create, what can and cannot be
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monetized, and overall taking ownership of someone's creation.</p>
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<p>If you do end up using RSS, I strongly suggest also looking for
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content you may enjoy on other platforms to encourage a movement away
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from centralized media platforms. Look for independent sites, blogs, or
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alternative platforms (e.g. Peertube as an alternative to YouTube). Talk
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about these sites with your friends and family to promote them, and
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hopefully we can move further away from the centralized and heavily
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controlled platforms.</p>
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<p>
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<label id="r1" >[1]</label>
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<a
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href="https://videos.lukesmith.xyz/videos/watch/551a1bfb-8a05-4cdb-b5d3-a42758991d83"
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target="_blank" >
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https://videos.lukesmith.xyz/videos/watch/551a1bfb-8a05-4cdb-b5d3-a42758991d83
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</a>
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</p>
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