I got rid of all my RSS subscriptions. The reason is amount of feeds always expands and reading them fills all the free time I have. It literally enslaved me. One might say it’s not a technology’s fault – it all depends on a way of using the subscriptions and he is right. However, It’s not an argument in my case. I have had quit RSS twice and I have returned back to using it twice. I failed to tame my passion to stupidly read feeds on my free time. My subscriptions have always grown until all time of mine consumed, and grew a bit more. I had enough zombie-like reading weekends and I want no more.
RSS has similarity with a TV way of fun delivery, in other words you do nothing to get a content – it arrives itself, and it’s really bad. You are passive. It means you are consuming a content without any desire to consume it – you are getting addicted to a content flow, conveniently given you by RSS reader. You end up with reading the feeds neither to learn something, nor to read something you want to read, but to fill a free time gap when you do not know what to do. It’s passive way of information consuming and it’s wrong.
The right way of information consuming is active way. In order to know something, even to let something pay your attention, you have to have desire to learn that. You have to intentionally dive into information flow and discover the subject. Only this way brings satisfaction and makes you to truly learn something. It’s harder indeed, requires more brain cycles for determining what you want, typing query, filtering information, etc. But it’s active, man. That is you satisfying your demands. It’s not a zombie before RSS reader.
Moreover, if you are not using any passive way of information consumption (actually it’s mostly entertainment. I call it information consumption to satisfy those who lies to himself that he consumes information, instead of truly entertaining himself) frees tons of time. Having free time makes you bored and forces to develop a task to do. let me repeat. Forces you to develop. It means you are deciding what you are going to do. You can decide to entertain yourself, but you should never decide it. Real nerd, real human been decides to learn something new, to create something new.
Eagle eyed reader would notice article appears to be posted under self management. It means I did the above to myself and happy about it. I do not miss any of my 150+ subscriptions. I have simply forgotten about all of them, what proves none of them were needed.