From the archives: Introduction to RSS
– posted November 28th, 2006 by Laurence Veale One comment
Back in December 2005, David Moore published his article, an
Introduction to RSS.
A year on, the RSS landscape changed but do we see a more widespread adoption?
Since Dave’s RSS article, we’ve launched our own blog.
But while Ireland’s most prolific bloggers have been musing online since the 2003/2004 season, what about everyone else,
i.e. the majority that normally come after the innovators and early adopters?
Certainly, more and more websites have adopted RSS, but what about their visitors? I don’t think they’ve taken it on in a big way yet.
What is RSS?
Firstly, what is this RSS with the little orange icons that are becoming more prevalent on the sites we visit everyday?
In his article on RSS, Dave Moore put it in really simple terms:
At its most basic, it ensures that any new content on sites you’re interested in comes to you.
So this statement describes what it does, but not what it is, which for me reflects something we’re all guilty of. It’s like referring to the familiar “web page” as a “HTML document”. It reeks of jargon and has fails to break away from its geeky roots.
This may well be the reason why so many sites feel the need to explain what an RSS feed is. For example, take the text on the British Prime Minister’s website, number-10.gov.uk
The No 10 RSS feed is an easy way for you to keep up to date with the latest site developments. Rather than having to visit the site to view new articles or features, you can subscibe to the RSS news feed and have the latest information delivered directly to you.
Thomson, the online travel agency who offers their latest travel offers via RSS. They introduce the concept as
Wouldn’t it be easier if instead of having to visit all of your favourite sites in turn and trawl through them looking for new content, you could have all the latest items delivered automatically to a single place on your computer? RSS is a technology that allows this to happen!
By labelling this functionality “RSS”, we’re using language that our visitors aren’t familiar with. We’re essentially using internal jargon (something we frequently advise our clients against). So, for me, the main challenge to mainstream adoption of RSS is how it’s packaged or marketed.
Just ask any of your friends who don’t work in the IT industry what RSS means and I guarantee you’ll mostly be met with blank expressions.
Despite popular sites like Ireland.com offering a wide range of feeds, I would proffer that very few visitors would know what RSS meant, let alone how to use it.
What are the benefits of RSS feeds?
The benefits of RSS for you and me is that it reduces the amount of work you need to do to get the content you want. To read the latest sports stories from the Irish Times, or
search for usability jobs in Dublin,
you no longer need to spend time visiting the respective websites and then navigate or search your way to the content you’re looking for. So it’s great at saving you time. In addition, you no longer need to offer up your email address and possibly compromise your privacy or add more clutter to your inbox. God knows we all get enough spam.
As Dave pointed out, it means
not having to give out your email address to be informed of changes,
and it also means your inbox is not overrun with newsletters.
Instead, you just subscribe to a site’s RSS feed(s) in the RSS Reader of your choice
(I use Google Reader) and it will automatically be notified with the latest content from the sites you subscribe to. So you’ll never again miss a thing.
RSS: far bigger than blogs
While RSS became known through blogs, it’s application is now far wider in reach can be easily used wherever content is is regularly refreshed. So,what kind of content can you subscribe to? Anything that is updated regularly, news, photos, search results, and using Dave’s tasty example, Jamie Oliver’s latest recipes.
RSS on Ireland.com
The Irish Times has a number of RSS feeds, each matching the different sections of the newspaper.
RSS Flickr Feeds
Have a favourite photographer on photo sharing site, Flickr? You can subscribe to their feed and be notified the second new photos are added.
eBay RSS search results
Looking for that rare G Plan nest of tables? Just search for it once and subscribe to the RSS feed for the search results and your RSS reader will be updated when any new sellers add theirs for sale.
Recruit Ireland RSS feeds
Want to hide your jobseeking from your boss? Again, instead of visiting the job website, just do your search for usability jobs in Dublin once and subscribe to the RSS feed for the results!
So far we’ve seen the many different ways RSS can be deployed with enormous benefits for both the site owners and their visitors. However, as I mentioned before, a lot more work needs to be done on marketing it. Instead of RSS
how could we relabel it to generate a greater uptake?
Here are some of my Really Stupid Synonyms as suggestions:
What do you think?
- What are your thoughts on RSS?
- Do you think RSS needs simpler labelling?
- And, is it our job (as IT professionals) to educate people on the benefits of RSS?
- Or, is simply a matter of time before RSS gains widespread adoption?
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One comment so far
1. Michele on Dec 15th, 2006 - 08:32
As more and more applications use RSS it will become more widely used by the non-technical. IE7, for example, has RSS support, so as people upgrade they may start to use the “new” features.
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