RSS is the oldest social network technology that actually works. Subscribe to a site's feed, and every post appears in your reader in reverse chronological order. No algorithm, no ads, no engagement optimization.
The main barrier to RSS adoption is the reader. Setting up Feedly or Inoreader is a commitment. For users following 3-5 sources, it is more infrastructure than necessary.
News Widget Dashboard: RSS on your Firefox new tab
News Widget Dashboard shows RSS headlines directly on your new tab. No separate reader app, no account to maintain.
Setup:
- Install the extension
- Enter the RSS feed URLs for the sources you want to follow
- Headlines appear on every new tab
Each source shows its latest headlines. Click a headline to open the article. The feeds update automatically.
News Widget Dashboard — Firefox Add-ons
Finding RSS feed URLs
Most sites still have RSS feeds, though they are not always prominently linked. Common patterns:
- Try
/feedor/rssappended to the domain:example.com/feed - For Substack newsletters:
substack.com/feedworks for most - For WordPress sites: typically
/feed/at the root - For GitHub: repositories have release feeds at
github.com/user/repo/releases.atom - For YouTube channels:
youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=CHANNEL_ID
Why RSS instead of social media follows
Twitter/X: algorithmic feed mixing your follows with promoted content. What you see is not all of what was posted.
LinkedIn: similar algorithm, plus engagement-bait from your network.
Email newsletters: works but fills the inbox. The inbox is for time-sensitive communication, not reading queues.
RSS: every post from every subscribed source, in order. You see everything.
For following specific blogs, news sites, or creators, RSS is more reliable than any social platform follow.
News Widget Dashboard is one of 11 Firefox extensions I built — see the full series.
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