---
title: RSS & Atom Making a Comeback?
date_pub: 2015-07-21T00:00:00-04:00
date_upd: 2018-11-04T15:01:00-05:00
content_type: journal
tags: internet js rss web
---

[Baldur Bjarnason thinks he knows](https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/notes/the-rules-have-changed-for-rss/) why RSS and Atom have come back into vogue, powering both Apple News and Facebook Instant Articles after years of disuse:

> There’s one thing that’s very different this time around for RSS and Atom and it’s the reason why this time it might be different. Back then ‘just the HTML, no CSS, JS, or Flash’ meant nothing more than rich text with images.
>
> Now, ‘just the HTML’ means rich text, video, audio, SVG, and more. While at the same time ‘HTML with CSS and JS’ has come to mean slow loading websites full of annoying ads and broken functionality (i.e. scroll-jacking).

It's that last point (again) that's the most important, IMHO, but it's also the one that seems to be [falling on deaf ears](https://blog.itsericwoodward.com/2015/self-fulfilling-prophecymicahgodboltstatus623180750142058496).
