Which platforms could I use to achieve what I'm looking for? I want to know what certain people are talking about, but I have zero interest in any form of social media features like recommendations and networks. Is RSS my only hope?
2. Unfollow everyone
3. Add them to specific list “js”, “rails”, “web3”
4. Create timeline with tweetdeck showing only the list. This way you only get tweets from people inside it.
Have you tried https://diff.blog ? It's basically just RSS, but might be interesting to you.