Being able to set up alerts to match certain keywords allows me to more actively consume their media and tends towards me actually supporting the continuation of their site because I noticeably consume and care for their media because I know it is there.
A site without an RSS feed means I need to manually check the site for any updates. Which means I'll never check the site for actual updates. Which means I never consume their media and wouldn't even notice if they closed their doors and shut down.
[1]: http://superuser.com/questions/361093/how-to-track-blog-chan...
It's free, has simple design, consumes few VPS resources, supports plugins. There apps for Android, iOS, WP. Requirements: a webserver, PHP, Mysql/Postgres.
I was a bit disappointed after Google decided to shutter Reader but with a little digging, I found Newsblur[1][2] to be a (better than really) replacement for Reader and am happily using / subscribing to new RSSs feeds daily.
I find it much easier to curate information / sites in one place and use HN / Reddit for discussion about said.
I used to dislike missing items (FOMO) and Reader was great for that, but because Newsblur has a limit per site I've gotten used to it.
Moved over to Feedly after Google Reader shut down and it's been fantastic.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/newsflow-the-no.1-news-ticke...
Frankly, with Facebook, I can just like relevant pages of blogs / sites I want to follow and get curated news that is much easier to access.
The subreddits don't work so well via RSS. Shrug.
[edit] and I gladly pay a few $/yr to keep them going
That... kinda seems like it doesn't lead into a conversation very well....