Good morning everyone, welcome back and happy Tuesday. As always, thank you so much for your generosity in supporting my newsletter and blog — and as always, I want to start with a thank-you to everyone who takes the time to read my articles.
A while ago, almost by accident, I found myself rediscovering a technology I thought had become completely obsolete: RSS feeds.
For those unfamiliar, RSS feeds allow you to aggregate all the blogs and websites you follow into one single place, through dedicated apps called aggregators. Almost every website platform generates one automatically, and these apps read them to keep you updated.
It all started while I was working on my website, thinking about all those people who might want to be notified every time I publish something new — but who can’t realistically remember to check in regularly. Or those who simply don’t want to subscribe to a newsletter and receive articles directly by email, which, given how crowded our inboxes already are, is completely understandable.
So I downloaded one of these aggregators myself, both to check that my site was displaying correctly and to understand what the experience actually feels like for those who still use these tools.
It opened up a whole new world.
I found myself in a space where you can still enjoy content without the pressure and competition driven by numbers. Followers, likes, shares. This slightly exhausting logic where every piece of content is no longer something to simply experience — a photo to look at, an article to read — but is instead measured by its performance. More likes, more followers, more shares.
It felt almost liberating. I could sit down, quietly read an article, and not think about whether I should leave a like or a comment. I just read it — with no sense that someone on the other end was waiting for a reaction, a follow, some form of acknowledgment.
It brings you back to the idea of content enjoyed for its own sake.
And turning this around to my own perspective as a creator, it also frees me from the pressure of having to constantly produce — always at your best, always chasing results — only to sometimes fall short of what you’d hoped for. It’s exhausting, honestly.
I write because I love writing. I take photos because I love photography. That’s it.
Sure, validation gives you a thrill. That dopamine hit when something lands well is real, and it’s no coincidence that major tech companies have invested heavily in building algorithms designed specifically to keep us chasing it.
But stepping outside that loop, even briefly, felt like a genuine liberation. The time I spend reading the few feeds I follow, I do it with real pleasure — something that doesn’t always happen when I’m scrolling through other platforms. And the same goes for photos.
Wouldn’t it be something to have a social platform where you simply post, your followers see it, and there’s no expectation attached? Maybe with the option to leave a comment — “Matteo, I really loved this one” — and nothing more. No like counts, no follower numbers, none of that. One person creates without pressure, the other enjoys without obligation.
So much more peaceful, don’t you think?
The beautiful thing is that technically, it’s all doable. I’ve actually been thinking about turning my own website into a social gallery integrated with an RSS feed — a place where, instead of posting on Instagram, I publish on my site, and whoever wants to follow along simply subscribes. Each notification means a new photo, nothing more. No performance metrics, no empty reactions — just the quiet pleasure of seeing what I’ve been working on.
I’ll leave that with you as food for thought. I’m already working on it.
In the meantime, I recently came across an app that does something very close to this: long or short articles, photos, but no numbers — just the option to comment. I haven’t explored it fully yet, but I will, and I’ll share what I find — either in a dedicated article or in a post. Whether I’ll step away from social media altogether is another question. Probably not entirely, but one step at a time.
Either way, rediscovering this corner of the internet has felt like a breath of fresh air. No obsessions, no competition. Competition can be healthy, it pushes you to grow — but when it becomes an obsession over every single thing you put out, it stops being worth it.
I’ll keep you posted on how this exploration goes. In the meantime, the link to my RSS feed is below if you want to give it a try. I’m also sharing the app I use — there are plenty of alternatives out there, this one just happens to be free and easy to get started with. No sponsorship, no affiliation — just my honest experience.
In short: add the feeds you want to follow, and the app notifies you whenever something new is published.
Simple, clean, no noise.
Here the links:
My Feed – https://teofranchi.com/feed
RSS Aggregator – https://netnewswire.com
Take care and talk soon!