Reading list
Shortform reading
This is an incomplete list of the shortform reading (and listening and watching) I’ve been doing lately.
This story must sound familliar, in 2024 -- it's all happening again. This time it's Facebook playing the role of Twitter, and Mastodon playing the role of RSS. And Mastodon has gotten a deserved reputation as being only for techie types. And tge solution in 2024 is the same as it was in 2002 -- working together to make subscription easy. A one-click Follow button that works. One button for site-makers to put on their pages. And users leaning back and clicking away without a care in the world (at least about the software).
RSS: The forgotten protocol that still matters
Using an RSS reader restores a sense of deep satisfaction, control and personal connection to the web that many folks have forgotten - or never experienced in the first place. RSS makes you the curator, the arbiter of your own attention.
Blogrolls were a common feature in early websites. A list of blogs you follow. A checklist of places to look at. Advertising our web friendships. Blogrolls were the beginning of today's social web.
It's time to take a fresh look at the humble blogroll.