I probably don’t need to go on and on why you shouldn’t use Twitter ( if you need to, at least use the web version and delete cookies and cache and everything when you’re done ), and especially Instagram and Facebook.
But that doesen’t mean you should isolate yourself ( stupid joke ) and don’t keep up with your favorite people, creators and brands. There are ways to follow any everybody on these platforms without even having an account.
When I showed you how you can watch YouTube and keep your subscription without an account and without the ads and Goole’s tracking, one of the steps was to import all of your subscriptions into an RSS reader. That’s exactly what you can also do for Twitter and Instagram.
Twitter is easy. You have two options. You can use Nitter, a free and open source alternative Twitter front-end focused on privacy. At some point, Nitter will bring support for a “simple account system with customizable feed”. But there’s no ETA. So for now, I think the RSS path is your best choice. Also, if you’re using Firefox or Chrome ( unless you MUST use it, don’t ) there are add-ons that will automaticaly redirect all twitter links to Nitter.
Nitter features:
- No JavaScript or ads
- All requests go through the backend, client never talks to Twitter
- Prevents Twitter from tracking your IP or JavaScript fingerprint
- Unofficial API (no rate limits or developer account required)
- Lightweight (36KB vs 580KB from twitter.com)
- RSS feeds
- Themes
- Mobile support (responsive design)
The RSS link for any Twitter account will be https://nitter.net/NAME/rss. So, for example…. FSM’s twitter RSS would be https://nitter.net/FSMdotCOM/rss
If you want to go through Twitter directly, there are a bunch of services that will create RSS feeds for desired accounts. I used to use twitrss. The RSS link fo any Twitter account will be http://twitrss.me/twitter_user_to_rss/?user=NAME. So, for example…. FSM’s twitter RSS would be http://twitrss.me/twitter_user_to_rss/?user=FSMdotCOM
Instagram and Facebook is just as easy, however it requires a few extra steps. First of all I have no idea why anybody would want to (still) use Facebook anymore. But just in case, this at least gives you the option to finally pull the triger and delete your account. And no, I’m sorry but “the only way to keep in touch with *insert name or relationship* is through Facebook” is not a good reason.
Instagram itself offers no RSS feed functionality. So you will have to use third-party services that will create feeds for the accounts you want to subscribe to. One of those services is rss.app ( you can create feeds for more than just Insta and FB with this service, including Twitter )
Using rss.app, all you have to do to create a feed is to provide a direct link to the profile, or the username or a #hashtag that you want to subscribe to.
The shitty part is that you have to create an account with rss.app. And, with a free account, you can only create 10 feeds. So you will probably need to create more than just one account. However that shouldn’t be a problem. Because you can use a password manager that stores all your usernames and passwords and for the email you can use a 10-minute throaway email service.
Pro-tip: After you create your rss.app account, go to feed settings ( top right corner ) and turn on everything so you won’t have any issues with videos not displaying in your RSS app.
UPDATE:
For Instagram, don’t bother with with rss.app. I’ve found a better and easier way: Bibliogram ( click to learn more ) – a service similar to Nitter ( linked above ) or invidio.us.
I go more in-depth in the article linked above, but just in case you don’t want to read that one too, here’s a quick walkthrough: the link you want to import in your RSS reader is https://bibliogram.art/u/{username}/atom.xml or https://bibliogram.art/u/{username}/rss.xml
