Linked – Digg Reader Is Shutting Down… RIP RSS

This is the sad state of RSS these days –

“The problem is that the number of RSS feed readers is dwindling. AOL Reader shut down at the beginning of the year, and more are bound to follow as RSS becomes even less popular than it is now. Which is unfortunate for those of us who still use it on a daily basis.”

It’s not just unfortunate for those of us who use RSS Readers, it’s unfortunate because it signals that people simply aren’t interested in taking responsibility for keeping informed. The beauty of RSS to me has always been that I choose what news sources I want to digest, and how I want to digest them. With tens of thousands of blogs, traditional news outlets, and other websites all having RSS feeds, I could create a fully customized news gathering tool set to my own personal choices.

Instead, it seems that most people are happy to simply “follow” sites they like on social media, and see whatever news the algorithms happen to bubble up for them. I don’t think that’s any better than passively watching the local TV station and reading the local paper as our only source of information. You’re letting someone else tell you what’s important instead of deciding it for yourself.

Then again, I guess people don’t generally like having to make decisions, so why would staying informed look any different?

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