We recently reported that Facebook will hold a press event on June 20 and new information is pointing towards a Facebook RSS reader of some kind. The move would allow Facebook to exit a market that is being left without the Google Reader platform.
Google Reader shuts down on July 1 and now developer Tom Waddington has found information within the Facebook API which might point to a new social RSS feed.
Waddington discovered the code in the Facebook Graph API and that code includes an association between RSS capabilities and user IDs, and fields for titles, URLs, and update times. The code also includes a field for entries and subscribers for each feed.
The discovered code will not operate at this time as it posts a message which says the code can only be executed via whitelisted addresses.
A Facebook Reader for RSS could allow the company to further expand its reach to outside sides while also allowing Facebook users to better organize how they view content from third-party locations.
Facebook is facing a lot of competition in the RSS space if it truly is planning a Facebook Reader. Competition is heading up from the likes of Digg, Feedly, and various other platform designers who are looking to capitalize on the departure of Google Reader.
Would you be willing to use a Facebook RSS Reader is it was made available?
Hi Guys,
If what you want is the ability to skim large #s of headlines, organize lots of feeds, label them, tag articles for later reading in one fast unobtrusive "no magazine layout" reader, SwarmIQ is your choice.
Sign up at https://www.swarmiq.com/register/GOOGLEREADERISDEAD , click on the Google reader icon to get all your feeds, and get up and running straight away.
Disclosure: I'm on the team that built this site 🙂 Also, we don't have "Google Alerts" type functionality yet.