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The Sovereign Feed

Published 1/2/2023. Last updated 3/31/2025.

#rss #content-distribution #decentralization #web-development #tech-history #cms #syndication
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RSS is dead, long live RSS.

Since the late 1990s, the web’s information distribution architecture has transformed. While social media platforms now dominate content distribution through centralized, algorithm-driven feeds, a 1999 technology continues to empower users with direct control over their consumption: Really Simple Syndication (RSS).

RSS is a standardized XML format that enables content syndication across the internet. Here’s what an RSS feed looks like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
    <title>The Sovereign Feed</title>
    <description>Thoughts on decentralized content distribution</description>
    <link>https://example.com/blog</link>
    <lastBuildDate>Mon, 05 Feb 2025 09:30:00 GMT</lastBuildDate>
    
    <item>
        <title>Taking Back Control of Your Content</title>
        <description>In an era of algorithmic feeds and data harvesting, RSS offers a path to content sovereignty...</description>
        <link>https://example.com/blog/content-control</link>
        <pubDate>Mon, 05 Feb 2025 09:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
        <guid>https://example.com/blog/content-control</guid>
    </item>
</channel>
</rss>

This simple XML structure powers a robust ecosystem of RSS readers - applications that aggregate and display content from multiple feeds. Users can subscribe to any number of feeds, with readers fetching updates regularly. This creates a personalized content stream free from external algorithms or tracking.

Early social media platforms recognized the value of RSS. Facebook and Twitter initially offered feeds of user content. However, as these platforms’ business models evolved to prioritize data collection and targeted advertising, they removed their support, pushing users toward their proprietary interfaces and algorithms.

Despite this shift, RSS remains relevant in specific domains. Podcast distribution relies heavily on feeds, and services like Pocket and Instapaper use it for their read-later functionality. Some modern browsers maintain native support.

The RSS architecture embodies digital sovereignty principles. Each feed is:

- Decentralized: Anyone can publish an RSS feed from any server.

- Standard: The XML format is well-documented and widely supported.

- Portable: Users can export their feed subscriptions between readers.

- Private: Feed readers can fetch content without monitoring user behavior.

- Direct: Content flows straight from publisher to reader without intermediaries.

New technologies like Arweave, IPFS, Mirror, and Farcaster offer novel approaches to decentralized content distribution, but they aim to solve problems that RSS addressed decades ago. The challenge isn’t technical - it’s about choosing tools that prioritize user autonomy over platform control.

As interest in “sovereign feeds” and decentralized social platforms grows, it’s worth remembering that RSS has offered this sovereignty all along. The technology never died - it just needed users to recognize its value in an era of centralized platforms. RSS is dead, long live RSS.

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