Facebook may be looking to provide a home for Google Reader users when the popular RSS reader closes next month.
A developer has been delving into Facebook’s code and spotted mentions of RSS feeds. The man in question, Tom Waddington of Sleuthing, reckons this could be more than a simple implication of RSS feeds for friends’ status updates and what-have-you.
He believes what he’s seen beneath the surface is “exactly what you’d code to start up a Google Reader clone.”
Furthermore, access to the code is limited to Facebook employees which suggests there’s a little more secrecy surrounding whatever the social network’s programmers are plotting.
It would certainly make sense for Facebook to attempt to fill the void left by Google Reader, a service Google seemingly just got tired of facilitating.
Facebook’s modus operandi is to keep eyes on the site at all times and the instant delivery of users friends’ favourite news sources would be another way of doing it.
Plenty of Google Reader loyalists have already overcome their sadness at the impending closure by shacking up with the impressive Feedly app, which has revealed 3 million new users since the announcement
The start-up has made it easy for Google Reader users to migrate over to the new service, preserving all of their favourite feeds.
Meanwhile, the former giant of web content aggregation Digg is also plotting an alternative service
Google Reader will officially pull down the shutters on July 1, so time is running out if Facebook plans to launch a replacement reader in time.
Via SlashGear
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
