You're missing the point entirely. You are correct, they are not open protocols you can subscribe blah blah blah; ask a non hacker news reader if they care abou

You're missing the point entirely. You are correct, they are not open protocols you can subscribe blah blah blah; ask a non hacker news reader if they care about any of that. You're answer will be "no". Twitter/Facebook are RSS for non techies, and they far outnumber non-techies.