I forgot where I read it but this post made a thought-provoking point that if everyone is reading our posts either on a timeline or via RSS, why do we spend so much time and effort designing our blog?

@pratik why do we decorate our homes if we're mostly the only ones who live in them? because it makes us happy!!!!

@bapsi You replied before I could add more context in a reply 😀 But yes, I agree.

@pratik For me, RSS is a good way to figure out when someone has posted. Some folks post relatively infrequently, and I check infrequently. RSS means that I see that the post happened. But I do find that I often click through from the RSS reader to the actual website, just because I like actually "sitting in their living room," so to speak, when I read the post.

@Ddanielson Yup. I don't want Scribbles to even have an option for tweaking your design. Maybe choosing a different theme or a different color set but that's it.

@pratik I hate RSS for same reasons - everything just looks like a wall of text with zero personality. Conversely because I have to go to another website to read something, if its not designed well or engaging, I stop reading it (which is great, coz less is more). I for one love a well designed blog (even if mine sucks!)

@pratik

if everyone is reading our posts either on a timeline or via RSS, why do we spend so much time and effort designing our blog?

That’s one of the reasons why I argued a few years ago that parts of RSS should be incorporated into HTML/the browser.

@pratik so we can pretend that people do - so much better than facing reality.

@MultoGhost Perhaps that's the biggest feature of RSS - knowing when someone has posted. In the very early days of blogging, I had a list of bookmarks that I checked daily ☺️ so in that sense, RSS made it quicker. But I did miss seeing all the blog designs and only knew when people said they had redesigned them. There are definitely some blogs that I always love reading directly on the browser if I know they frequently update (e.g., Kottke, etc.), and as @bapsi said, we love decorating our "home," but then we also like having people over when we think our home looks good.

@stupendousman True. I should go back to having the list of blogs in my browser bookmarks.

@artkavanagh This is an awesome post, and I found myself nodding along in several places. I wish this could be built, and I like how your solution regarding notifications would work. Now I have bookmarked your post so I don't forget where I read this insight.

@JohnPhilpin You mean, we can pretend people read our blogs?

@pratik there are some RSS readers where you can set the default to open the actual website if you prefer.

@pratik That strikes me as a false dichotomy. RSS doesn't keep me from being thoughtful...it helps me be more thoughtful. It's not about being more efficient at reading, but about being more efficient finding the things that resonate with me, the places to direct my attention. I don't see how missing more of those opportunities in order to experience the design choices made in their presentation is better. It is a rare site whose design is elevated to the point that it is in itself interesting (if anything, most sites design choices make the reading physically more difficult). Sort of like books: I appreciate a high-end, lavish production, but those are rare, and a modestly designed book may be physically uninteresting but ultimately provides an equal reading experience.

@artkavanagh @pratik As they once were with Firefox "live bookmarks"

@clorgie Maybe thoughtful was the wrong term. I mostly had personal or even topical blogs on my mind when I thought this. RSS is great at getting at content, but seeing all the blogs that way, they lose their personality and quirks that can help us relate more with a person. Sites that make reading difficult should be discouraged and may lose readers. Or you can read them through RSS. I wish there was a mix of them and not all RSS. But I totally get that it's a personal choice and even then you can have a mix of both.

@pratik I'm also thinking of personal and topical blogs. Those account for 90%+ of the sites I follow. I relate to people through their writing far more than the design of the site when I click through (and I do click through sometimes, though I prefer not to be forced into it). For me, as a reader, the design is simply not that important (as long as it doesn't get in the way). Very, VERY few sites are interesting in their design (to me). I guess that's a little sad for people who spend a lot of time on their sites, but honestly that feels like time that would be better spent, from my perspective as a reader, writing/creating.

@pratik Isn't there a mix of them already? I'm not quite sure what you mean by "all RSS" in this context?

@clorgie

Very, VERY few sites are interesting in their design (to me). I guess that's a little sad for people who spend a lot of time on their sites, but honestly that feels like time that would be better spent, from my perspective as a reader, writing/creating.

Yeah, I guess that's the crux. I have mostly moved away from tweaking my design too much and only now when I am switching themes, I thought about this. Anyway, wasn't any deeply-thought out post 🙃

@MultoGhost This resonates for me. The fact that we can click the titles to get to the original webpage means there’s no need to choose between reading efficiency and visiting someone’s site, or any such difference between the RSS experience and the browser one.

Cc @pratik

@clorgie Yep, exactly.

@pratik Who’s “we” here? Very few people of all those who blog at all kinds of places actually spend much time designing their sites.

@moonmehta Yup. That's the "we" I was talking about. Also, coz I was doing that at the time 🙃