RSS Feeds
Turbo Charged Web Surfing
- Collect news and information on your industry – fast.·
- Get your message out to key sources - fast·
- Monitor your opponents or competitors
RSS feeds are like automated web surfing. Instead of going to the same sites every day, sites with a feed will send you their new posts. There are slightly different formats, but essentially, your “RSS reader” checks the sites you want to monitor whenever you ask it to. Any site with a little orange box on it that says RSS or XML has a feed. RSS feeds also work as a content management tool for more basic web sites.
RSS Feeds are very powerful for gathering information. You can scan a number of news sites or blogs with the click of a button. You immediately know what the latest news in your industry is, and what your friends and opponents are saying.
On the flip side, this technology is very powerful for any site that wants to get a message out. You no longer have to hope that people will come to your site and read your new post or update. Instead, your message will go to them automatically.The analogy here is the difference between buying a magazine or newspaper from the store vs. getting it delivered.
You can post a message, and know exactly how many people are going to get it. Obviously, a blog with an RSS feed in the hands of a Michael Moore or a Naomi Klein can be a very powerful thing.
RSS feeds are still mostly unknown to many. Only about 4% of internet users KNOWINGLY use RSS feeds. Many who had blogs a year or more ago are not on systems that have an RSS feed.
RSS feeds have the ability to turbo-charge the Blogosphere. However, it seems that this technology is not very smooth – it is not too easy for the average web user to figure out how to use them.
Generally, according to surveys on key blogs, those that use RSS feeds are the technically savvy and most importantly, the key industry leaders. Thus, RSS feeds are not near as powerful for mass communication as something like direct email. They are, however, very useful for getting your word out to key people.
On the horizon – RSS type technology is being integrated into podcasting and videocasting. There is the argument being made that eventually self programmed RSS feeds will usurp today’s radio and TV models, perhaps inserting targeted advertising into chosen feeds.