Feedly and the quiet return of RSS: read the web on your own terms

What RSS still does better

Social feeds show you what an algorithm predicts will hold your attention. An RSS reader shows you everything from sources you deliberately chose, in chronological order, and then it's done. There's no infinite scroll because there's an actual end.

For keeping up with industry blogs, news sites, journals or your favorite writers, it's still the most respectful technology the web has produced.

Setting up a feed you'll keep

Start with ten to fifteen sources you genuinely read, organized into two or three folders — 'must read' and 'skim' is enough. Resist importing hundreds of subscriptions on day one; an overflowing reader recreates the problem it was meant to solve.

Add sources slowly, and remove any feed you consistently skip past. Pruning is maintenance, not loss.

A sustainable reading habit

Check once or twice a day at set times rather than grazing. Skim headlines, save the few worth real attention, and mark the rest read without ceremony — 'mark as read' is the feature that protects your attention.

The unread count is a number, not an obligation. Many experienced users set their reader to hide it entirely.

Free tier and extras

Feedly's free plan covers a comfortable number of sources; paid tiers add more feeds, faster updates, and AI-assisted filtering for professionals who monitor many publications. Most personal readers never need to pay.