Chrome’s Follow Button

02 Jun 2021 | ~1 minute read

I just read Scott Nesbitt’s latest weekly musing (it’s an excellent newsletter, you should definitely subscribe) on Chrome’s new follow button.

In the post, Scott talks about how people are touting this new feature as the RSS killer. Ironically, I read Scott’s musing in my RSS reader. He says:

The narrative about the death, or ill health, of RSS persists. A headline at Techcrunch, for example, proclaims that Google revives RSS. But Google’s second go around won’t save RSS, if only because RSS doesn’t need saving. It won’t revitalize or revive RSS (sorry, TechCrunch), if only because RSS isn’t struggling. RSS isn’t fading away. It doesn’t require any tender ministrations

Scott Nesbitt

I completely agree with Scott here; RSS is very important and doesn’t need saving. Having said that, I don’t see this service as a replacement, or competitor to, RSS. I see it more as Google’s attempt to implement a service like Mozilla’s Pocket.

Either way it’s an excellent piece, as Scott’s writing often is. Here’s a link so you can read his musing yourself.

What do you think? Are Google trying kill RSS here?

• Notes