Pablo recently added me to powrss^[1], and wrote about reading the web seasonally^[2].

When I first started using RSS, I thought I’d found this great tool for keeping tabs on news, current events, and stuff I should and do care about.

After adding newspapers, blogs, magazines, publications, YouTube channels and release notes from software I use, I felt a false sense of accomplishment, like I’d finally been able to wrangle the craziness of the internet into a single app, like I had rebelled against the algorithm™️.

I understand exactly what he means^[3]. I discovered RSS via Lifehacker, I think, back when it was useful. It felt like a real hack, even when things were less algorithm-driven.

But it didn’t take long to accumulate hundreds of posts, most of which I had no true desire to read, and soon after I abandoned my RSS reader. I came back to check on it from time to time, but its dreadful little indicator of unread posts felt like a personal failure, so eventually I deleted it entirely.

And then this happens. I was in college, and went down a rabbit hole. I subscribed to everything, worried that if I missed even one headline I'd be "behind". RSS became an overwhelming burden.

In retrospect, this is when some of my anxiety and ADHD should really have been noticed by others. I should have gotten treatment at that point, instead of failing a class.

These days, I use RSS much more casually^[4]. I like my Newsblur account for keeping up with some web comics, vegan recipes, a little bit of news, and my friends' blogs (like Pablo and the fine folks posted on powrss). It's a nice way to dip my toes in, when I have the time and brainpower, but I've made friends with the Mark All as Read button and am not afraid to let things go.