Making RSS More Fun
6 days ago
- #RSS
- #SmallWeb
- #ContentDiscovery
- Author dislikes RSS readers for personal use due to the pressure of an endless backlog and prefers a TikTok-like experience for discovering random small websites.
- Proposes a simple service where users can passively consume content from small creators, upvote what they like, and influence what others see, without ads or data collection.
- Mentions the now-defunct StumbleUpon as a similar service that failed due to lack of monetization.
- Introduces 'Timewaster Pro', a Firefox extension that serves random websites, allows voting, and includes a leaderboard for users who submit popular links.
- Backend uses FastAPI and SQLite, with a slow RSS feed crawler to avoid high costs, focusing on community-defined 'high quality' content.
- UI designed with a retro Apple System OS aesthetic to signal it's not a professional service.
- Discusses challenges with user authentication, preferring passkeys but settling for email verification due to technical limitations.
- Expresses openness to releasing source code once the project stabilizes, with over 600,000 pages already indexed.
- Highlights usability issues like platform-specific keyboard shortcuts and extension manifest uncertainties.
- Future plans include categorizing content, filtering out low-quality submissions, improving new user experience, and wishing for more diverse content like photography and crafts.