The internet has provided us with the ability to answer our curiosities. The abundance of information had been a blessing for us. However, as time passed, there came a problem concerning information overload. In accordance with the former — content overload has also become a thing, especially with content-oriented platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube. Consequently, they will try to somehow push these contents to their audience by using some kind of “dealer”.
Content is a “drug” and the algorithm is the “dealer”. Using this terminology we can understand how algorithms can be bad for our lives. It can affect our mood, productivity, and even personal life! The term Doomscrolling exists not without any reason. These platforms have fooled us into thinking that we have so much control over the content that we have — although, in actuality, they have great control over our attention and freedom to choose.
What to do?
Instagram has implemented limited screen time for using the apps. YouTube will warn its users if they consume content at a time when they should not be. Et cetera, et cetera. In reality, nobody uses these features. When someone has opened the apps, their mind is wired to start consuming, hence why these features are not effective and efficient.
Aside from addiction to content, there is also an urgency on what kind of content we consume. Some consume content merely for entertainment purposes and some for broadening their knowledge on certain information. People will say that they’ve stumbled upon useful information on Instagram, and because of that, the algorithm will feed them useful information — so, it’s a win-win situation right? Well, I can’t really generalize each piece of content that has been personalized for each person, but I do know that the type of content these platforms offer is either bite-sized or microblog, which can result in low attention span. If the purpose of consuming content is to get useful information, why even go to social media in the first place? There are other sources that will give you more substantial information without sacrificing your attention span and making you addicted to content. Digital Literacy is as important as Literacy itself.
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash
The solution has existed since 1999 and it was invented by an old friend that goes by the name Netscape. Netscape introduced RSS as a way for users to get updates — usually for new content — easily in one place instead of going here and there every time. At first, it caught the attention of news media, and later they implemented RSS in their service. RSS has gone through a slow and study growth. Its highest point can be seen with the popularity of blogging. I believe it ultimately fell because of the rise of social media platforms, which prefer to create their own brand identity and exclusivity instead of accessibility for their users.
How to use RSS & Create your own RSS feed
First, I will list some RSS feed readers so you can keep note:
- Vore.website (vore.website)
- Newsblur
- Fluent-reader
- Raven
- Lettura
- ReadYou
My favorite one is the first one, Vore.website. I will be using it to demonstrate how you can subscribe to RSS feeds and streamline your content consumption.
Here are some important points about getting and subscribing to RSS feeds:
- Look for this button. It means that you can subscribe through their RSS feed.
- Copy the URL.
- Place the URL into your RSS feed reader.
That’s basically what you will go through when trying to find and subscribe to an RSS feed using the reader. But, some websites just don’t offer that option. Don’t worry, there’s a way to do that — but first, let’s demonstrate the process of subscribing using Vore.website.
How to use Vore.website
- Create an account
- and paste the URL into the textbox
Here are some feeds to help get you started:
- TheMarkup.org → Journalism about technology and censorship.
- aeon.co → Collection of essays
- garrit.xyz → Great blog
- herman.bearblog → Blog from the bearblog developer. Lots of interesting writing.
- meadow.bearblog → Blog with unique writing. I like it :)
- zenhabits.net → Blog about Zen and spirituality.
- Voila! You can visit or share your personal Vore.website URL to access the latest feeds!
Get feeds from a website that doesn’t offer RSS
Some websites don’t allow users to access and subscribe to their feeds. So, this browser extension called RSSHub-Radar allows you to get inaccessible feeds.
- Install the extension
- Click on the extension icon
- Click on the Copy button
- Paste the URL into your reader
How this method can benefit you!
To put it simply, you are your own algorithm. You don’t need to depend on AI for content consumption anymore. From now on, every content that you will consume is going to rely on your own conscience, meaning there’s no need to waste time scrolling through an abundance of content with no end. And every content is meaningful — in a beneficial way.
As previously stated, the content that you will consume is going to be substantial. It’ll improve your digital literacy and broaden your knowledge and attention spans. It is a way for you to detox from social media and Doomscrolling.
This is how we should consume content. It should be like how it was at the beginning. Natural discovery…
Curiosity should lead to discovery. Not the other way around.
Adieu!
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