UKC

I'm sure that this site used to use RSS in some form (the news section still does) but there used to be more options to do so.

Is it a technology that's effectively dead? Was it too "techy"? Have social networks such as Twitter and Facebook taken over? One possibility is that RSS can't really be monetised (horrible word) by associating adverts with feeds which is why Google Reader was killed off. Another is that general computer users "just didn't get it". A suggestion I've seen is that people would rather look at articles their friends "like" or tweet.

So do you, or did you, use some form of RSS feed/ aggregator? If you no longer do then why?

ALC

In reply to a lakeland climber:

I used to use Google Reader and now use Feedly (mainly because it was the first thing I came across and was really easy to transfer feeds from Google Reader).

I'm not particularly techy and started using GR as an easy way to collect together all of the sites I looked at on a fairly regular basis - sort of as a tailored newspaper.

I guess for many people weeding out stuff of interest from the huges volumes of crap out there is too much like hard work. Waiting for a friend to share it on FB or seeing what friends like on FB and following along is much easier.

I use FB, but increasingly just on my iPhone as there's less noise/ads on the screen.

OM

In reply to a lakeland climber: I use it to keep up to date with blogs I'm interested in without having to manually visit them all the time to check for updates. Don't really see a better alternative to RSS for that, and think it works well. Since google reader was killed of I've used Feedly. TBH I preferred the simplicity of reader, but feedly works ok.

In reply to a lakeland climber:

I too switched to Feedly from Google Reader and use this on my tablet / phone, I also use Netvibes (on PC). RSS is not dead and still the best way to selectively get what you want to read without being plagued by adverts etc.

In reply to a lakeland climber:

I used to be a big fan Google Reader but about 18 months ago drifted away as I found that Twitter fulfilled my needs better - with only a few minor exceptions, every site/blog I followed on GR would post on Twitter, and with the advent of lists on Twitter, it became much easier to manage.

In reply to a lakeland climber:
Feedly is now where my collection of blog feeds resides, but I find I increasingly use Flipboard for everything else.

In reply to a lakeland climber:

I used Google Reader a lot and loved it. Feedly is just "clunky" in comparison, it may be more powerful but it feels obtrusive whereas GR didn't. I find I don't read as many blogs these days and just visit the sites once a week instead of reading the new stuff every day. I don't use twitter or facebook much anymore so I guess I surf a lot less altogether these days.

In reply to a lakeland climber:

using the new version of net news wire. apart from a range of blogs it can be handy for keeping up with replies to your UKC posts.

In reply to Only a hill:

I use Flipboard and Zite on the iPad for news feeds. Zite is interesting in that it learns what you like and you can tell it to find "more like this" or "less like this", essentially a like/dislike option. Just looked at Feedly - seems OK, I know they were promoting themselves as the google reader alternative. I'll see how it goes.

ALC

In reply to a lakeland climber:

I never used RSS, and to be truthful I still don't know what it was, is, or did.

In reply to The Lemming:

Basically a subscription service: rather than having to visit every site you like to keep an eye on, you subscribe to that site's RSS feed (if they have one) and then when there's new content it is added to the subscription. You need a program or web service to read the feeds/subscriptions, usually called a reader, but apart from that it's straightforward.

The reader program simply goes through your list of subscriptions at a regular interval, hourly or so, and updates them. You get a list of headlines and precis of each story in a timeline, you then just click on whatever you are interested in and you get a bit more text with a link through to the site the story came from.

That's basically it.

ALC

In reply to a lakeland climber:

Feedly, here, too.

I like the fact that RSS feeds can be quite specific, whereas I have real trouble sorting the signal from the noise on Twitter et al.