Instant Articles, Proprietary Syndication, and a Web Built on User Fidelity Preferences

The blogosphere's interconnectedness is truly remarkable. Recently, I've noticed a fascinating convergence of ideas surrounding content syndication and user preferences. Nick Heer's insightful piece on Meta's discontinuation of Instant Articles, and its comparison to Google AMP's similar fate, sparked my interest. This led me to Chris Coyier's compelling argument against proprietary content syndication models like Meta's Instant Articles, Google AMP, and Apple News. Coyier highlights the publisher's core challenge: maximizing content reach. While embracing multiple syndication formats might seem necessary, the resulting complexity is undeniable.

Coyier's point about the impracticality of managing multiple content formats resonated deeply. He underscores the inherent difficulty of maintaining consistency across various platforms, especially considering the addition of video, audio, and social media.

The solution, as Chris aptly points out, has existed for quite some time: RSS. It's baffling that major players overlooked this simple, yet effective, standard. RSS elegantly addresses many of the issues proprietary formats attempt to solve.

Jim Nielsen's approach further strengthens this argument. His work focuses on empowering users to control the "fidelity" of their reading experience. Instead of separate lean versions (like text.npr.org), his system allows users to adjust fidelity preferences (high, medium, low) on the main site (npr.org). This sends a header signal to the server indicating the desired level of content richness. This is a fantastic example of leveraging HTML's power to cater to user preferences.

Jim's implementation cleverly generates different versions of the same article:

<code>.
├── index.html # default
├── _fidelity/
    ├── low/
    │    └── index.html # text-only
    └── med/
        └── index.html # minimal</code>

Redirects manage the user experience after their fidelity preference is selected. While Jim acknowledges potential improvements to the build process, his concept is a significant step forward.

The confluence of these three articles—each offering unique perspectives and solutions—highlights the power of collaborative thinking in the blogosphere. It's a testament to the enduring relevance of RSS and the importance of prioritizing user control over content consumption.

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