2024-09-02-From-Social-Media-to-RSS
layout: post title: “From Social Media to RSS: Crafting a More Intentional Web Experience” date: 2024-09-02 description: “Exploring the shift from social media to a more deliberate, RSS-driven web experience.” —
In a post from Manuel his blog manuelmoreale, Manuel discusses “The Social Web” and makes a compelling point:
When I talk about the social aspects of the web, I’m not talking about social media. I’m talking about the exact opposite. I’m talking about liberating yourself from all sorts of algorithmic grouping and filtering and getting back to experiencing and using the web in a much more deliberate and mindful way. Adding someone’s RSS feed to your feed reader requires some intentionality. The only way for you to discover new content is by interacting with it. You have to click links, you have to visit sites, you have to navigate them. You have to judge for yourself if this person with their blog is worthy of your follow. And your feed—yes YOUR feed, because it’s curated by you and no one else—is going to be a finite entity. There’s no doom scrolling in an RSS feed.
This idea excites me because it resonates with what I’ve been doing for a while now. With my RSS reader, I’m subscribing to all the platforms that genuinely interest me. I’ve pulled together my podcasts, YouTube subscriptions, newsletters, blogs, and websites into one centralized space where I can consume content in a more mindful way. No algorithms, no endless scrolling, no company trying to keep me hooked longer than necessary.
Getting off social media has been such a relief. I have zero regrets about deleting Instagram, Threads, and Snapchat from my iPhone. In just a few months of embracing this “old-school” approach to the web, I’ve discovered so many interesting people. I truly value the content I consume every day because it’s curated by me, focused on topics I care about and want to explore further.
As a non-native English speaker, this has also been a great way to improve my language skills. I’m constantly learning new words, phrases, and ways of expressing myself that I wouldn’t have picked up otherwise.
Right now, I’m in the process of building my own website from scratch. Partly, it’s because I want to learn web development, but also because I want a personal space on the internet—somewhere to share my blog, post photos I take, and share things I find interesting.
I’ve never been this excited about a project or, honestly, about the direction my life is taking. It feels so much better to consume content that enriches my day. The idea of having my own website, where I can connect with like-minded people, is incredibly motivating.
This post turned out longer than I expected, but I wanted to share my thoughts and maybe connect with others who feel the same way about returning to a slower, more intentional, and far better web experience without all the social media noise!