# Understanding AP and RSS
I've been trying to figure out what ActivityPub does that RSS doesn't.
Off the top of my head, it's not the ability to syndicate, RSS already does that. I can follow anyone on any server.
I think it's the timeline? And the ability to delete posts. Keeping all that in sync is a lot of work, and presumably a lot of traffic?
Also replies. If I reply to a post when viewing it on another server, the reply should show up under any other view of that post.
What else??
Dave Winer ☕️ /
npub1ff…fwaxg
2024-04-04 14:43:57
Author Public Key
npub1ffr5l8pzukex3lqrn9y0cqnjyzc2qw7xr99z23ve9dhm5ru2n38qkfwaxgPublished at
2024-04-04 14:43:57Event JSON
{
"id": "8ffe3c1018f5cdc160d6a3381c75a206bd0d7136bd9de31ffa17b67887baaf58",
"pubkey": "4a474f9c22e5b268fc039948fc027220b0a03bc6194a2545992b6fba0f8a9c4e",
"created_at": 1712241837,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"proxy",
"https://mastodon.social/users/davew/statuses/112213481032208332",
"activitypub"
]
],
"content": "# Understanding AP and RSS\n\nI've been trying to figure out what ActivityPub does that RSS doesn't. \n\nOff the top of my head, it's not the ability to syndicate, RSS already does that. I can follow anyone on any server. \n\nI think it's the timeline? And the ability to delete posts. Keeping all that in sync is a lot of work, and presumably a lot of traffic? \n\nAlso replies. If I reply to a post when viewing it on another server, the reply should show up under any other view of that post.\n\nWhat else??",
"sig": "e925bdcf2af7e0a59f766da23b76b31fae6782fe0be86197c2b15e79d200cfab9d147958286de9fbcbe72996367639fe7fe8d0697018e37270edf55374758a62"
}