Why You Should Be Using RSS

Really, REALLY BIG RSS feed button
Image by HiMY SYeD / photopia via Flickr

OK – this is largely intended for my friends/associates whom I fear will be the grandmas who don’t know how to program their VCRs (what’s that?)… NOW IS THE TIME TO GET INTO RSS (Real Simple Syndication – but the name is somewhat contrived and doesn’t matter)!

What in the world is RSS you ask?  For those of you saying, “there are people who don’t know RSS/feed readers?!?” – bear with me as I run a short, pedantic tutorial; you would be surprised how many people are in the dark about this simple, startlingly revolutionary, technology.

You have likely seen the symbol for RSS – the ubiquitous square orange symbol with the sound waves.

When you click on this symbol, you are usually taken to a feeds page (for example, you can check out the feed for Pittsburgh Ventures here), which has whatever content or story you are reading on that particular website arranged in a format that can be processed by a feed reader.  Google Reader is an example of a feed reader – it is free, and likely has between 50 -65% market share, with its very simple, clean interface, its link to a series of mobile apps, and now its open API that will allow tons of developer creativity to create features on top of an already great platform.

So what’s the big payoff?  When you direct RSS feeds to your chosen feed reader, information comes automagically to you. Rather than visiting several sites to gather your daily/weekly/monthly information, you visit one robust platform to get it all in one spot – like a modern-day electronic newspaper.

Three reasons you should be using RSS:

1) It is the most efficient way to keep on top of loads information.  Do you remember the first time you read a newspaper?  I opened the Wall Street Journal and was overwhelmed by the amount of information contained in those pages, but over time (about a year) I learned the best way to consume that information.  Now I get that same information from WSJ via my reader, along with information and news from about 125 other sources (yes, 125 sounds like a lot, but you get good at it – I am lightweight by comparison with most).

2) It is dead simple.  When you see a new source of information you want to follow, you simply click on the RSS button and the news is then fed into your reader for you; if that information ceases to interest you, you click an “unsubscribe” button and it goes away (if only I could do that with Thomas Frank).

3) There are robust features inside most RSS readers that make you instantly more productive.  Just want to read the headlines?  No problem; click.  Want to organize the sources of information so you don’t ever miss reading your favorites?  Easy; click.  One of the most important things you can do is share information at the click of the mouse – this helps you with your people networking and makes you more relevant and important to your friends and colleagues.

I have said before that I am a big believer in building two very important networks, your people network and your information network – and this is one of the most important ways to begin building your information network.  Find the blogs and news items that you need to do your job better, that interest you, and perhaps are in the field that you eventually want to get into – I guarantee there is more information out there than you can imagine!

You can find a great video on RSS here – I hope to see you in RSS soon (and PLEASE send me any article you find particularly interesting!)!

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