I want to believe otherwise, but is this just a case of being one in the crowd, despite the fact the crowd may be remarkably small? Google clearly wants to mov

I want to believe otherwise, but is this just a case of being one in the crowd, despite the fact the crowd may be remarkably small? Google clearly wants to move users to G+, and we've been hearing for years now how "RSS is dead," but perhaps they're onto something? How could they make such a glaring move if it was going to cost them so much reputation? I, for one, can't do the email option for alerts as well. I've basically stopped using any/all alerts at this point and Google is starting to look like the enemy.