Open RSS

We're a nonprofit organization for those of us who are tired of being manipulated by the traditional feeds on websites and social media platforms, having everything we do online tracked, or being forced to create accounts and give up personal details that can be hacked or sold —just to browse content online. We do this by providing free RSS feeds, so we can all experience web content through feeds that only we control.

Why we exist

The internet was a great place back when it started. Everything online was organic and of decent quality. You could find unique and interesting content online in seconds, and access it without giving up any personal details. You could experience all corners of the internet at your own pace without being spied on. You were in full control, and your experience online was how you shaped it.

But, somewhere along the line, we've lost our way. Big Tech companies especially have since taken advantage and abused the freedom of the open web. They've turned what was once a beautiful network of original and organic content into a giant cesspool of over-engineered false realities that have fostered nothing but loneliness, depression, and anxiety.

Our world is slowly being destroyed by these companies that are obsessed with delivering hyperactive, ad-invested apps and websites that manipulate our thinking, overwhelm us with useless push notifications, and track everything we do online.

They build websites and apps that constantly violate our basic privacy rights, so they can gobble up our personal information to share and sell to the highest bidder. They force us to create accounts and hand over every personal detail about our lives, only for it to get hacked and stolen because they didn't store it securely.

Then, instead of taking accountability, they run and hide behind their fancy Terms of Service agreements we're forced to sign (which we never really agree to), and continue operations as if nothing ever happened.

They no longer care about making their online presence better for users. They're only concerned about how fast they can collect every inch of data about us to increase their profits—all at our expense.

Open RSS started as an experiment to counteract this devastating direction. We wanted to test whether it was possible to consume information on the web without the negative effects. We needed to see if it was possible to read and view online content without having our behavior tracked, being manipulated by recommendation algorithms, or sacrificing our privacy by giving up personal information.

After two years of this research and development, RSS feeds became the vital piece in accomplishing our goals. But for a lot of websites, RSS feeds were non-existent or just didn't work. So we created Open RSS in 2022 to finally help the world by reviving RSS feeds on every website, making them more reliable, and advocating them as the way forward to a bigger and brighter future.

Mission

• Provide free RSS feeds forever

  Our organization has taken an oath to provide feeds to all that will always be free of charge and free of corporate control to keep public online content accessible to internet users without sacrificing their right to privacy.

• Keep feeds reliable

  No matter how tough it may get, we'll continue to maintain and improve upon RSS feeds so they can continue to be a reliable way for everyone to stay up-to-date with content anywhere on the internet.

• Advocate for adoption

  We're fully dedicated to encouraging the use, implementation, and adoption of RSS feeds as a more private and personalized alternative to accessing websites and applications directly.

• Spread knowledge

  We won't stop until everyone knows how using RSS feeds allows them to consume online content in a mentally healthier way, and helps them avoid being manipulated by recommendation algorithms, self-prioritized ranking, and other undesired curation.

What we do

We provide a number of services to those who want to avoid the negative effects of the cesspool that the open internet has become

Technology

We focus on building technology (RSS feeds) that allows people to collect and follow updates on their favorite websites, apps, or anything else they're interested in online in a single feed or timeline that only they control.

RSS feeds have been around since the beginning of the internet and were offered on virtually every website. But many websites have either ditched them or now just flat out refuse to provide them. This is where our organization comes in. We provide RSS feeds for all websites that don't already provide them to ensure RSS feeds can continue to be a reliable option, specifically for the following users.

• Users who want a feed that is purely chronological and not cluttered or overshadowed by so-called "promoted", sponsored, or otherwise irrelevant content
• Users who want to avoid being manipulated by recommendation algorithms on traditional social media feeds, websites, and forums
• Users who prefer not to create an account, give up their rights in Terms of Service agreements, or hand over excessive amounts of private information just to consume online content
• Users who are exhausted from having to constantly check multiple websites just to keep up with updates
• Users tired of having to receive an overwhelming amount of push notifications to avoid missing out on important online content

Not only do we offer new RSS feeds for websites, we're constantly working to improve existing RSS feeds that websites may already offer. This allows Open RSS feeds to still be a great alternative if the RSS feeds offered by websites are subpar or may not work so well.

Outreach

The more we all use RSS feeds, the less control platforms have over how we consume content, which improves our mental health and leads to more positive interactions online. So we're always working to increase awareness around RSS feeds by doing the following.

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  Reaching out to website owners that don't yet have fully working RSS feeds to share why they're so important to their users and assist with getting RSS feeds implemented on their website

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  Offering guidance to mental health facilities to encourage RSS feed usage as a healthier alternative to the negative effects that occur from the chronic and addictive consumption of news online

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  Working with public schools to offer educational seminars to children of parents who are concerned with the negative effects algorithmic feeds have on their children when using social media

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  Attending networking events to connect with people concerned with how their private and personal data is being used online and how RSS feeds can help

Education

RSS feeds can be rather intimidating, and difficult to understand for those that may be new to them. So we're always working to ensure everyone understands why they're so important and knows how to use them. We do this with a strong focus on the following efforts.

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  Virtual and in-person seminars on using better technology (particularly RSS) to help users avoid the negative effects of consuming news and updates through platform-controlled feeds

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  1-on-1 Sessions to train users on how to use RSS feeds and related technology to take control over their online experience and consume content without sacrificing their privacy

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  Educational guides and informative blog articles that are intuitive and fact-based to educate the public and increase awareness

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  Forums and chat rooms that we often hang out in to casually help users who are having issues with RSS feeds, RSS readers, or any related technology

Partnerships

RSS feeds have come a long way, but there's still a lot to do. And the more we work together, the better it is for everyone. That's why we continue to work with organizations who are also doing great things in the space to increase awareness and adoption of RSS feeds.

• Privacy advocate groups to help offer RSS feeds to more privacy-conscious users as a way to consume web content without sacrificing their privacy
• Charities and other nonprofits in the tech space, that we can help by donating our time to build software and technologies for them to save money and further their cause
• RSS feed owners and service providers that we can exchange tips and information with on how we all can deliver better RSS feeds to users and ensure they're always working properly

The Team

Open RSS is run by engineers who are passionate about user privacy and keeping the open web accessible to everyone

Mark Kennedy

If you've interacted with anyone at Open RSS, you've likely chatted with Mark, the founder. He maintains the website, writes the code for the RSS feeds, responds to support emails, writes articles written on our blog, and handles most of the organization's operations.

Mark was born and lives in the USA and has been an engineer most of his life. Even as a teenager tinkering with code and building small web pages from pure luck, Mark knew he wanted to dedicate his life to studying and perfecting the art of building technology professionally. Since then, he's gained over 14 years of experience developing websites and applications for USAToday, Capital One, Verizon, Bethesda Studios, USPS, and many others. With a strong focus to build technology that puts people over profits, Mark consults with local small businesses and nonprofits, contributes to open-source, and builds libraries that help other engineers, which can be found on his GitHub profile.

Health is something Mark is super passionate about, so much of his time is spent working out and staying active. But, after years of teaching dance in his local community, nothing beats his passion for the performing arts. In fact, Mark believes nothing compares to the liberation that comes from any form of creative, artistic expression. You can find Mark hanging out at local markets and bars, taking on DIY projects to renovate his home, and spending time with his family and friends. But these days, you're most likely to catch him lecturing some random person about the dangers of having our lives rely too much on technology.

Kiran Yedavalli

Kiran's a Software Engineer based out of the USA and the support arm of Open RSS. He's always prepared to step in and help out wherever necessary, gives great guidance and advice, and is a big advocate of open-source and privacy-focused software. His skills and willingness to be flexible and adapt to learn new technologies has made him a great addition to the organization.

Throughout his career, he's worked on large-scale applications for nonprofits, does freelance work, and builds helpful tools and software for businesses. In his downtime, you can catch Kiran sharing his opinion on politics or offering advice on how to make more money and be more financially independent. These days, he's been working on an app that helps less-savvy investors control and manage their own financial investments.

Contribute

We're grateful for any support you can give to help carry out our mission to save the web

Donations

Donating to our organization is, by-far, the biggest and most significant way to further our mission and growth. We offer many ways to donate that all help to cover our costs and expenses.

To ensure that the organization's mission isn't skewed or compromised by its donors, we can only accept at-will donations free from any sort of condition(s). Additionally, to avoid having the sustainability of the organization rely too much on just a few high donors, we can only accept donations with a combined total that does not greatly exceed the average amount of donations from all other donors.

If you have any questions about our funding or donating, please feel free to contact us at any time.

Give feedback

Although we always try to do our best, we realize that sometimes things may still not go so well. When this happens, we'd like to know how we can grow and be better. So if there's ever any issue, please don't hesitate by letting us know when:

• Something isn't working correctly
• There's something we aren't providing that you'd like us to
• We can assist you with something, or
• You'd just like to leave a comment

Spread the word

We don't invest in any marketing or advertising strategies—especially in a world that's already saturated with it. Instead, we believe doing good work will speak for itself and others will share their experience, which will hopefully inspire more RSS feed adoption.

So if Open RSS has helped you in any way, feel free to mention us in your favorite chatrooms or forums, share a link to one of our blog articles you may have enjoyed, or post about us on social media. We thank everyone for all of your support!

Operations

Because it's important to see how we're holding up

Financials

Letter from the CEO

For too long, websites have ignored providing RSS feeds, and those that once did have just stopped. No wonder people who were once RSS advocates consider RSS "dead". But 2023 is the year I organized Open RSS to put a stop to the madness and bring RSS back. 2023 was our year. The year the world needed to be shown that RSS is here to stay, and that I'll do everything in our power to keep it that way.

The servers we use costs us monthly for a total of about $3K for the year, but getting financial help was the furthest thing from my mind. So I just paid out of pocket to cover the server costs and didn't even think about putting up a donations page until pretty late in the year. But, you'll see below, that ever since then, we've been so grateful to have received around $200 from a handful of amazing supporters to help cover our costs!

Having financial support is great—we'll probably need more of it to make a bigger impact one day. But for now, I'm just happy to finally put us all back into the driver's seat and take back control of how we consume internet content. Because that's exactly what the internet is all about, experiencing it on our own terms.

- Mark

Balance Sheet

Statement of Activities

Statement of Cash Flows

Documents

Bylaws

As a nonprofit organization in the United States, each member of Open RSS has agreed to abide by our Bylaws. The document holds us accountable to stay true to our mission, always operate in good faith, and never place profits above serving the public.

• Articles of Incorporation

  Filed with the District of Columbia to become officially incorporated and to obtain 501(c)(3) status

  

• CEO Letter to Cover Expenses

  CEO affirms covering the organization's expenses until public donations become sufficient

  

• IRS Nonprofit Determination Letter

  Internal Revenue Service declaring official nonprofit 501(c)(3) status and a tax-exempt organization

  

Meetings

To ensure we're executing our mission to the best of our ability, we try to meet as often as possible and especially when important decisions need to be made. Check out our latest meetings below.