Last year, the author experienced burnout in their software industry career. They decided to take a break, quit their job, and started therapy. They also disconnected from social media, including Twitter. During this time, they read a book called How to Do Nothing, which led them to discover Mastodon, an alternative online community. After trying Mastodon, the author realized they needed a feed reader to reconnect with the good side of the web. They decided to build their own personal reader and set some goals for the project. They wanted a dynamic web UI, ease of operation, and user experience as the top priority. The author chose to build a monolithic web application using Python. They didn’t write tests initially, but focused on experiencing the app as an end user. They eventually named the feed reader “feedi” and found joy and fulfillment in using the tool they built themselves. By using a personal reader, they regained control over the information they consumed and enjoyed the process of discovery.
https://olano.dev/2023-12-12-reclaiming-the-web-with-a-personal-reader/