The web needs an open and universal follow button

When I started meshedsociety.com about two month ago, I stumbled upon a little issue: I wanted to tell my friends and online contacts about the site, and my intention was to make it as easy as possible for them to follow – you know, like you would do on Twitter, Medium, Facebook (with a “like”) or YouTube.

Well, unfortunately for those who host their own sites, this kind of fancy and convenient system with built-in traffic generator does not exist. Instead one has to rely on a mix of different isolated subscription solutions, all of which have some serious flaws.

RSS is perfect for those who use an RSS reader, but outside of tech circles, who does? And even within the industry the number of people rejecting the format is growing. Asking users to follow on Twitter or to “like” on Facebook works to some extent. But at Facebook the chance to have content actually showing up in users’ newsfeeds is small considering the tough competition and Facebook’s algorithm-based selection. Twitter is not ideal either if you want to make sure that your work is being seen. Furthermore, most Twitter users are too lazy or busy to click on links that appear in their timeline. Continue Reading