RSS is basically the zombie of the internet. It refuses to die because it’s just too useful. While everyone else is drowning in the TikTok algorithm or getting stressed by Facebook political rants, some of us are out here using Really Simple Syndication to keep tabs on the people who actually matter. Like your mother-in-law.
It sounds a bit intense, right? "Dominating" a feed? But honestly, if you've ever missed a blog post about her prize-winning begonias or a link to a family reunion photo gallery she hosted on an obscure Wordpress site from 2008, you know the stakes. Dominating my mother-in-law RSS feed isn't about control in a weird way; it’s about being the person who actually knows what’s going on without having to ask "wait, when did that happen?" every five minutes.
RSS tech hasn't changed much since Dave Winer and others pioneered it in the late 90s. It’s a simple XML file. That’s it. But that simplicity is exactly why it works for tracking family updates that the big platforms bury.
Why RSS is Better Than Social Media for Family Updates
Social media is a mess. Mark Zuckerberg's algorithm doesn't care about your family tree. It cares about engagement. If your mother-in-law posts a long-winded update about her new gluten-free bread recipe but doesn't get many "likes," Instagram might just hide it from you entirely.
RSS is different. It’s chronological. It’s honest.
If she posts it, you see it. Period. No "suggested for you" garbage. No ads for lawn mowers. Just the content. When you focus on dominating my mother-in-law RSS feed, you are essentially building a private intelligence network for your domestic life. It’s a way to show you care by actually paying attention to the digital breadcrumbs she leaves behind.
Most people think RSS is just for tech news or "serious" blogs. Wrong. It’s the ultimate tool for the "hyper-local" news of your own extended family.
Finding the Feed Hidden in Plain Sight
Finding the feed is the first hurdle. Most modern websites built on CMS platforms like WordPress, Squarespace, or Blogger have RSS baked in. You just have to know where to look. Usually, you can just add /feed/ to the end of a WordPress URL.
Sometimes it’s trickier. You might need to view the page source (Ctrl+U) and search for "RSS" or "Atom" to find the specific link. If she’s using a platform like Substack, the feed is usually just the URL plus /feed.
What if she’s just posting on Facebook? That’s where things get technical and a little bit "gray hat." Since Facebook killed off official RSS feeds years ago, you have to use third-party "bridge" tools like RSS.app or FetchRSS. These tools basically scrape the public-facing version of a page and turn it into a clean XML feed. It’s not perfect—Facebook tries to block them constantly—but it’s often the only way to get those updates into your reader without actually logging into the blue hellscape.
The Tools of the Trade
You need a reader. Feedly is the big name, the one everyone knows. It’s fine. It’s the "Toyota Camry" of RSS readers. Reliable, does the job, a bit boring.
If you want something with more soul, look at NetNewsWire for Mac/iOS or Reeder. They feel like real software, not just another web app wrapper. For the hardcore data nerds, Inoreader is the gold standard. It lets you set up "rules."
Imagine this: You set a rule where if the phrase "vacation" or "visit" appears in the feed, you get a push notification immediately. That is how you master dominating my mother-in-law RSS feed. You aren't just reading; you are filtering.
Creating Feeds from Non-RSS Sites
Sometimes the source doesn't have a feed. Maybe she has a public Google Photos album or a specific Flickr account for her pottery.
Tools like FiveFilter or Huginn (if you’re a total dev nerd) can turn almost any website into an RSS feed. You select the CSS selectors—basically the parts of the page that change—and the tool monitors them for updates. It sounds like overkill. It probably is. But if you want to be the first person to comment on the new pottery kiln photo, this is how you do it.
The Etiquette of Digital Monitoring
Let’s be real for a second. There’s a fine line between "attentive family member" and "digital stalker."
The goal here is to be informed, not to be creepy. If she mentions she’s feeling under the weather in a blog post on Tuesday, you don't call her at 8:01 AM on Tuesday saying "I saw your RSS feed said you have a cold." That’s weird. Don't do that.
Instead, you use that information to send a "Thinking of you" text on Wednesday. It makes you look thoughtful because you are being thoughtful. You’re using technology to bridge the gap that physical distance and busy schedules create.
RSS gives you the context. It’s up to you to use it with some emotional intelligence.
Dealing with "Dead" Feeds
The biggest frustration in dominating my mother-in-law RSS feed is the silence. People get excited about a blog, post three times in a week, and then nothing for six months.
Don't delete the feed. One of the best parts of RSS is that it's "set it and forget it." If she suddenly decides to start her travelogue again three years from now, it will just pop up in your reader. You don't have to remember to check. That’s the "dominance" part—the technology does the remembering for you.
Advanced Tactics: Merging and Filtering
If you have multiple family members with different sites, your reader can get cluttered. Use "Folders" or "Tags." I have a specific "Family" folder that I check once a day.
You can also use "Master Feeds." Services like RSSMix let you take five different RSS URLs and blend them into one single stream. This is great if you want a "Family News" ticker on your desktop or a digital photo frame.
I’ve seen people use Zapier or IFTTT to take an RSS update and automatically send it to a private Discord server or a Slack channel they share with their spouse. This keeps everyone in the loop without anyone having to manually share links.
The Problem with Images
RSS was built for text. It handles images... okay. But if her feed is mostly high-res photos of the grandkids, some readers will struggle.
Ensure your reader is set to "Full Content" view if possible. Some feeds only provide a "summary," which is annoying. Tools like "Full-Text RSS" can often bypass these summaries and pull the entire article and all images into your reader so you never have to leave the app. It’s a much cleaner experience.
Actionable Steps for Feed Mastery
If you’re serious about this, don’t just bookmark a page and hope you remember to check it. That’s a recipe for failure.
- Audit the digital footprint. Ask or find out where she actually posts. Is it a blog? A public Facebook page? A Pinterest board?
- Select your bridge tools. If it’s not a standard blog, use a tool like RSS.app to generate a custom URL.
- Choose a "Pull" reader. Get an app that supports background refreshing so the updates are waiting for you, not the other way around.
- Set up "Keyword Alerts." In Inoreader or Feedly Pro, set alerts for specific names or events so you don't miss the big stuff in the sea of minor updates.
- Bridge the gap to real life. Take the info you get from the feed and use it for actual human connection.
The beauty of dominating my mother-in-law RSS feed is that it actually saves you time. You spend less time scrolling through noise and more time seeing exactly what she wanted to share with the world. It’s the most efficient way to be a "good" son or daughter-in-law in the digital age.
Stop relying on a billion-dollar company's algorithm to tell you what your family is up to. Take the data back. RSS is a simple, old-school protocol that still solves a very modern problem: staying connected without losing your mind. Give it a shot. You'll be surprised how much more you actually learn when you aren't fighting a feed designed to sell you sneakers.