Microsoft is preparing to bring back the RSS feed with a new feature called Followable Web for its web browser Edge. Currently available to members of the Edge Canary early access channel, the feature allows users to “follow” websites to get a compiled list of the latest updates.
Sites that the user follows are shown in a panel on the side of the browser, but users need to go to the Collections menu to see all of the sites followed.
Even for Microsoft Edge Canary users, you may not be able to see this feature yet, as the rollout is gradual.
Really Simple Syndication, or RSS for short, was once one of the most popular ways to track websites. Thanks to the use of RSS readers, people could easily follow the latest content from their favorite sources on the web. But the reign of RSS was short-lived.
The rise of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which opened a new way to share and discover web content, effectively put an end to the golden age of RSS. The algorithm-based methodology of Google News and Microsoft News also provided an alternative model for providing users with new content.
Still, as problems with the algorithm-based approach to content discovery (such as misinformation, duplication of one-sided views) come to light, there are many people looking for a way to exercise greater control over the information presented to them.
It looks like RSS is back in the limelight with the new Followable Web feature for Edge. Also, Microsoft isn’t the only software giant working on the RSS feed feature for its browser; It is known that similar functions have been developed for Google, Chrome. . .
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