NEWS While news sites and bloggers are getting hot under the collar about RSS, it seems hardly anyone else is.
A report from Forrester Research has found that just two per cent of US internet users are making use of RSS feeds.
Young people are among the most vociferous users, the report found, but even in the 12 to 21 age group, only five per cent of surfers were making use of the technology.
Users' ambivalence, however, is not shared by the marketing community, Forrester found. Fifty-seven per cent of marketers said they are interested in employing the technology.
Comments
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1. James G
I use RSS on a daily basis for reading new articles.
I save a tremdous amount of time and get the lowdown on the latest developments faster than anyone else.
2. Quinton
All that should hopefully change in the near future.
Its the perfect communication tool.
We develop a brandable rss reader "Custom Reader" and it has really taken off the past couple of months by marketers, so the last part of that article is definately true.
3. Sean Mulholland
98% of users shun it? That's quite the sensationalist headline. More accurate would be '98% of users don't know what it is or how to use it'. RSS is a background technology, like HTTP or TCP/IP. The average user doesn't know a thing about HTTP or TCP/IP, the protocols that make the Internet happen, yet they use them every day. Once RSS is made a bit more user friendly and given a cathier brand name we'll see who 'shuns' it.
4. anonymous
RSS is still very new but is catching like wild fire. Anyone who tries it out in a feed reader can see how fun it is. Or try reading some at sites like http://www.readablog.com
5. anonymous
I totally use RSS. Very convenient, but you only know that when someone shows you what it is and how it works. You know, at your particular user-level of understanding.
I was intimidated but those three little letters until I downloaded a news program and saw the RSS screenshots...now I can't live without RSS.
6. anonymous
RSS... Hmmm, I tried it, it works, OK, but... so what? I find I'm quite comfortable surfing, finding, viewing as I always have. So, really, it's just something I don't need. And if they're seeking to add ads, well, I need it even less. I get enough ads as it is. Want people to use RSS more? Make it even easier to use, sure, but most importantly, give us some compelling reason we need it.
7. Nick Cole
Information overload!
Who has time to take action on all the information they get let alone keep reading it?
More time is spent reading than on productive activity.
Those who need RSS can have it, those (98%?) who don't use it probably don't have a need for it. Is it a technology looking for a solution again?
8. anonymous
Whilst it is an interesting statistic, I think an important point has been missed. In my opinion, RSS is most useful for syndicating content between websites, rather being used by individuals to aggregate feeds. The ability to populate web pages with valid, up-to-date content with little effort on your part is surely the killer app here. At least, it will be as long as users prefer to browse the web, rather than aggregate all of their favorite content in one place.
9. anonymous
Don't want it. Don't need it. Don't use it.
10. Tim Swan
As RSS is better integrated into the browser experience it will be more widely used. I'd bet that users of Safari and Firefox have a much wider use because of its near-seamless integration. The client-side reader technology is just getting going, so it's a little premature to judge its success yet.