Even in 2018, it remains a challenge for many to efficiently extract information from the internet that is truly reliable, relevant, and current. Not for me: I use RSS!
Black Boxes as Information Sources?
Various algorithms on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others promise to provide all relevant content. And indeed, these filters can help, as they have the property of self-optimization. While this leads to increasingly better matches, it carries the risk of only supplying us with information within our personal bubble.
The problem is that we are allowed little to no control over setting these filters ourselves. These filters are and remain black boxes, and thus hardly conducive to our daily information gathering.
Enter RSS
For years, this fine protocol has existed, allowing a provider to publish certain information on the internet in chronological order. Every reasonably decent CMS supports RSS. Our beloved GenericProductName brings RSS feed as a standard function – its origin as blogging software is clearly recognizable here.
So there are plenty of RSS sources. All we need now is the software to regularly bring these RSS feeds to our screen. I’ve been using Feedly for years – but there are various RSS readers for every platform. I appreciate Feedly because it’s available on all my systems and also has a great web interface through which I can manage my RSS feeds as I like.
Maintaining Information
I can store my RSS sources in various thematic folders. I can quickly identify inactive sources and remove them from my collection. And I can export my collection at any time in an OPML file, essentially as a backup of my daily information machine.
I find Feedly so good that I treat myself to a Pro version. Not necessarily because of the features, but because I want this software to continue being developed for a long time. I’m happy to make my financial contribution for that.
