Facebook seduces users to stay within their walled garden by making it easy to follow a new friend, view/like/share their posts, or comment. As a result, both reader and writer can quickly and easily give each other hits of dopamine. (Often, it only takes a single click.)
However, there are similar tools to make connections with others outside of the walled gardens, such as RSS feeds/readers, Web clippers, etc.
For example, outside of Facebook, many indie blogs offer RSS feeds. An RSS feed is a simply a series of posts, like entries in a journal. Most often, RSS feeds are text, but they can be any kind of content, such as Youtube videos, songs, or pictures.
An RSS reader allows you to subscribe to and read RSS feeds.
There are many RSS readers out there, but I use and recommend the Miniflux RSS reader:
https://miniflux.app/
Miniflux doesn't try to lock you in (it's open source), and it's easy to use. It's primarily a web app, but there are also clients for mobile devices as well:
Microflux (Android):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.constantin.microflux&hl=en_US&gl=US
Reeder (Mac / iOS):
https://reederapp.com/
Sometimes it's hard to find the URL for an RSS feed on a web site. To alleviate this problem I recommend installing the "Get RSS Feed URL" Chrome Extension
(https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/get-rss-feed-url/kfghpdldaipanmkhfpdcjglncmilendn)
...and the "Add to Miniflux" bookmarklet:
https://reader.miniflux.app/integrations
The "Get RSS Feed URL" extension lists any RSS feeds it can find on the page. You can then copy and paste the feed into "Add to Miniflux" booklet.
Unfortunately, these open alternatives are more difficult to learn and use. (There's a reason the FATMAG companies have become so popular.) So, please be patient, and expect a learning curve. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me.
If you'd like to add my RSS feed it's available here:
https://listed.djaFACEBOOK.la/feed.rss
(Remove FACEBOOK to get the proper link.)
However, there are similar tools to make connections with others outside of the walled gardens, such as RSS feeds/readers, Web clippers, etc.
For example, outside of Facebook, many indie blogs offer RSS feeds. An RSS feed is a simply a series of posts, like entries in a journal. Most often, RSS feeds are text, but they can be any kind of content, such as Youtube videos, songs, or pictures.
An RSS reader allows you to subscribe to and read RSS feeds.
There are many RSS readers out there, but I use and recommend the Miniflux RSS reader:
https://miniflux.app/
Miniflux doesn't try to lock you in (it's open source), and it's easy to use. It's primarily a web app, but there are also clients for mobile devices as well:
Microflux (Android):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.constantin.microflux&hl=en_US&gl=US
Reeder (Mac / iOS):
https://reederapp.com/
Sometimes it's hard to find the URL for an RSS feed on a web site. To alleviate this problem I recommend installing the "Get RSS Feed URL" Chrome Extension
(https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/get-rss-feed-url/kfghpdldaipanmkhfpdcjglncmilendn)
...and the "Add to Miniflux" bookmarklet:
https://reader.miniflux.app/integrations
The "Get RSS Feed URL" extension lists any RSS feeds it can find on the page. You can then copy and paste the feed into "Add to Miniflux" booklet.
Unfortunately, these open alternatives are more difficult to learn and use. (There's a reason the FATMAG companies have become so popular.) So, please be patient, and expect a learning curve. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me.
If you'd like to add my RSS feed it's available here:
https://listed.djaFACEBOOK.la/feed.rss
(Remove FACEBOOK to get the proper link.)