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It's all about information
The bulk of my work consists of seeking information. Especially for the world- and businessnews I’m a big fan of using RSS. When I asked however, the people in my network aren’t familiar with RSS, let alone using it. Beside a single internet nerd, hardly anyone is seem to know about the functionality of RSS. And that surprises me, especially considering the convenience and possibilities that RSS offers. Yes, I'm a RSS enthusiast.
The bulk of my work consists of seeking information. Especially for the world- and businessnews I’m a big fan of using RSS. When I asked however, the people in my network aren’t familiar with RSS, let alone using it. Beside a single internet nerd, hardly anyone is seem to know about the functionality of RSS. And that surprises me, especially considering the convenience and possibilities that RSS offers. Yes, I'm a RSS enthusiast.
RSS usage in the Netherlands
To have an idea of the worldwide use of RSS, I consulted Google. Unfortunately, the latest studies about RSS usage were done in 2008 and in the rapid changing world of social media and the internet I considered them outdated. So I decided to do a short questionnaire through my own website OKonderzoek.nl. The 235 Dutch people who have completed the questionnaire confirm my suspicion. RSS is a relatively unknown online feature. Only 50% of the respondents where familiar with RSS. And of that group only 50% uses RSS. Ultimately that’s only 1 in 4 respondents. There’s room for improvement here. For further figures, the completed report and research data are available for download.
To have an idea of the worldwide use of RSS, I consulted Google. Unfortunately, the latest studies about RSS usage were done in 2008 and in the rapid changing world of social media and the internet I considered them outdated. So I decided to do a short questionnaire through my own website OKonderzoek.nl. The 235 Dutch people who have completed the questionnaire confirm my suspicion. RSS is a relatively unknown online feature. Only 50% of the respondents where familiar with RSS. And of that group only 50% uses RSS. Ultimately that’s only 1 in 4 respondents. There’s room for improvement here. For further figures, the completed report and research data are available for download.
RSS Promotion
I’m convinced that a good implementation of a RSS function has added value for a website. Facebook and LinkedIn get enough attention on a website but the RSS is –when available- not big on the promotion agenda . The RSS function with its subscription feature generates a stream of potential visitors after the publication of new content. When combined with other social media there is much potential for additional exposure. I can only assume that the limited awareness of the functionality of RSS explains the limited usage. Then there is the issue about the current RSS readers available.
I’m convinced that a good implementation of a RSS function has added value for a website. Facebook and LinkedIn get enough attention on a website but the RSS is –when available- not big on the promotion agenda . The RSS function with its subscription feature generates a stream of potential visitors after the publication of new content. When combined with other social media there is much potential for additional exposure. I can only assume that the limited awareness of the functionality of RSS explains the limited usage. Then there is the issue about the current RSS readers available.
75% of the current users use an offline RSS reader. Offline readers generally look quite similar to Outlook in terms of layout and appearance. And let's face it, nobody likes to look at the Outlook screen for much longer then necessary. Outlook for me is a lot of extra work through the incoming work related emails. It just doesn’t feel right. And the corporate layout with is lacking any form of sex-appeal doesn’t make it any more attractive or fun to use either.
RSS use 2.0
So as a pragmatic Internet user with a business spirit I developed SelectYourNews. SelectYourNews is an online webbased RSS reader. The RSS technique may not ring any bells for the regular internet user but that is the general idea. It's all about showing the news. SelectYourNews contains eight mini RSS readers on a single screen and clearly shows the headlines from the selected newspapers and magazines. Users select their preferred sources through the database which is filled with 3500+ feeds as we speak. Is SelectYourNews unique? Yes and no. There are a lot of RSS readers available with a comprehensive functionality for information supply. The uniqueness of SelectYourNews is the layout with eight fields and the large database of RSS feeds. The user selects the news sources they want and do not need to copy / paste the RSS feeds from a website into the reader. This gives the user more flexibility, convenience and choice. The news profiles provide the user with preselected news sources to match the user interests.
So as a pragmatic Internet user with a business spirit I developed SelectYourNews. SelectYourNews is an online webbased RSS reader. The RSS technique may not ring any bells for the regular internet user but that is the general idea. It's all about showing the news. SelectYourNews contains eight mini RSS readers on a single screen and clearly shows the headlines from the selected newspapers and magazines. Users select their preferred sources through the database which is filled with 3500+ feeds as we speak. Is SelectYourNews unique? Yes and no. There are a lot of RSS readers available with a comprehensive functionality for information supply. The uniqueness of SelectYourNews is the layout with eight fields and the large database of RSS feeds. The user selects the news sources they want and do not need to copy / paste the RSS feeds from a website into the reader. This gives the user more flexibility, convenience and choice. The news profiles provide the user with preselected news sources to match the user interests.
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I'm very pleased with the usability of SelectYourNews There are many more expansion options I want to realize. Obviously there are some improvement, a website is and will always remain a dynamic product whose development never stands still. I am therefore very curious about the reactions of users. One of the many reasons I started this blog.
After all, it's all about information ...
