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RSS is for Champs!
< Where do you find your inspiration? | Unsorted Posts | Keeping track of multiple accounts >
Summary: Different solutions work for different sites. RSS has pros and cons. It's far from a waste of time.
Over at SlamBlogger there's a post that claims RSS is for "Chumps". I've heard a few people saying they're not a fan of RSS, but I personally find it to be an extremely valuable resource.
First things first, my subscription FAQ should help explain what RSS is all about. Now let's look at SlamBlogger's points in turn.
1. Reduces visitors and page views to your site
When I first visit a site, it's like I'm giving it a "trial run" to see if I like the content. Sometimes I'm not sure and may revisit in the future to see how the site is going.
If I really like the content, I subscribe. Once I subscribe, I am much more likely to read every post from that moment on than I would be if I didn't subscribe.
If I feel compelled to comment, I'm much more likely to do so as a subscriber than a "drive by". This is because I like to keep track of the posts I've commented on without subscribing to every post by email. I do this by starring the item in Google Reader. Then every week or two I go back to view all of the starred items from the last week or two to see if anyone replied to me.
This actually leads to MORE views than if I didn't subscribe. But I guess it really depends on how you use RSS.
2. Doesn't promote community
When I subscribe to a site and I find a post I like, I click to view the post, comment on the post, and then I revisit and maybe even comment a second or third time. To keep track of the posts I comment on, I star them in Google Reader. Then every week or two I go back and check out the posts I've commented on to see if I have any replies. (this tip was originally suggested to me by Gorilla Sushi.)
If I didn't subscribe, I would never remember to go back to the post. I am sure there are a few comments out there where I didn't get to see any follow-up comments because I didn't think to subscribe. I don't see much point in commenting if I am not going to check back and read the replies.
I wish more people did this as I see so many people who comment where someone replies to them, but they don't come back to add further thoughts. For me, subscribing, reading and commenting are very closely linked. Subscribing is what I do when I care enough to keep track of the community on a blog. This is probably because I used to be very keen on message boards, and on a board more people go back to the same threads to see additional replies. Commenting on blogs sometimes feels similar to replying at a forum, and I like to keep track of the replies.
3. Confused visitors
I'm the first to accept that not everyone understands all of the jargon. However, I believe that if jargon is explained in plain English, people can learn about it much more easily and understand what it means.
I do fully appreciate this point, but if a reason for not using RSS is because people don't understand the benefits, why not sell the benefits to people and make them want to learn about it? It's not just a case of defining the jargon - you have to give people a reason to use something. And while I agree not everyone likes RSS, some people really do find it useful - whether they're technically-minded or not.
Jargon should not deter people from trying something out. If it's not for them, that's OK, but they need to come to that conclusion on their own.
4. A subcription base full of nobodies
I agree that if you run contests just to boost your subscriber count, you're kidding yourself about how many readers you actually have. But of course this only applies to sites that do this.
I once ran a small Entrecard contest where people only had to comment to enter. This was at a time where lots of sites were giving away Entrecard credits, but most of them required you to subscribe, write on your blog about the contest, or do something that required you to jump through a lot of hoops.
Using a simpler approach may not have got my link on other sites or boosted my subscriber count, but it did mean that more people entered the contest. And in doing so, some of those people decided to subscribe to my site anyway.
There really is no need to fake your subscriber count if you have a site that there's an audience for. I may not have a huge subscriber base, but hopefully people subscribe because they like the content - not to win a prize.
5. Most readers don't like receiving daily emails
Agreed. That's why I encourage people to use Google Reader. Also, I don't post every day (although I used to), so I'm not overwhelming people with posts.
Disclaimer
I'm not taking this too seriously, just offering an alternative viewpoint. I fully understand the premise of SlamBlogger - slamming things, basically. At least that's what I thought the site was about. The blogger forgot to fill in their About page, so I wasn't able to verify if my assumptions are correct.
The reason for this post is because I believe there are two sides to every story, and I think most of the above reasons are not really valid. That said, I do see the benefits in having a newsletter, so I may look into this in the future.
What do you think?
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Comments on RSS is for Champs!
Hi Bob, you might find this useful:
http://www.bloglines.com/help/faq#export
Basically you export your list of subscriptions into a file (XML). Then sign up for Google Reader. In Reader, you can import that list of subscriptions. Voila!
Then follow Ben's advice on the starring-the-post part.
that's a great point you made. i too have at times left comments, and wondered later if they were responded to, but then i wasn't ever able to check. your google reader tip seems promising. might give it a try.
Ben, this is all good stuff, and I can see both sides of the coin. I just wanted to say that I used a reader for a long time (Bloglines, to be specific), and when I got behind on posts I got totally overwhelmed. I wouldn't always have time to go to check things out in bloglines and so things would pile up. For me, it was kinda crazy. By subscribing via e-mail to my favorite blogs (this one included!) I find that it's much easier to manage for me. I'm not familiar with Google Reader, so maybe that's different. But if things are delivered to me, I'm much more likely to see them than if I have to go after them. There are blogs that I can't sign up for by e-mail, and I put them into my Web Clips in my GMail account so I can see their latest posts in my headlines at the top of my e-mail page. I like that, and can click through to find the ones I want to read.
It's just another way of organizing I guess. Lots of my favorite blogs I KNOW that I wouldn't be able to visit all the time, but by getting an e-mail I'm at least able to stay up with them.
I guess I'm just totally inept at RSS because although I've subscribed to several feeds and they are displayed in my Vista sidebar (and I read them) I feel that I don't comment often on those posts. It's just too easy to say "I'll get back to it" then move on to the next feed than it is to click, comment etc.
I didn't know about the star thing and don't know that I can do that in the sidebar anyway.
I used to have mine on a summary RSS, but after listening to all sides of the debate, I've switched to full. I'll see how it goes, there are no right or wrong answers and it will vary. But I think after reading the way most people think and surf the blogs, it will be in my best interest to let people subscribe through RSS.
Hey Ben, thanks for the constructive disagreement, and of course the linkback :-)
You have some good points. Although, my main focus of the article was to explain that you can have all the benefits of RSS (including the ones you mention here) without the disadvantages of RSS.
You're right, still need to work on that "about" page. Some changes planned for next week, in my next move to step it up a bit.
I've been struggling to find an easy way to keep a note of blogs I've commented on. I'm using Bloglines but despite having, probably completely unfounded, paranoia about using Googles software at every turn I think I may just have to give Reader a shot.
Up until now I've been trying to Spurl any post I comment on but half the time I forget and spend days going back through blogs trying to find the one comment I new would get a reply and need answered. Not exactly the best way of doing it I know :)
Don't suppose there's any migration tools out there?
Edited: September 22, 2008 21:41