Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Of Internet Users, Only 4% Knowingly Use RSS

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i'll-tell-you-why dept.

yogikoudou writes "Recent research conducted by Yahoo! and Ipsos reveals that while 12% of surveyed Yahoo users know what RSS is, only 4% of surveyed Internet users use it (PDF) (and know they use it). Podcasting is also reviewed, with the conclusion that 2% of surveyed people use it. The increasing number of blogs should go with an increasing number of syndicated readers, as they are now an important part of the web." I've said it before, I'll say it again- if RSS was called SpeedFeed every user would have to have it.

2 of 284 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why use RSS by Hackeron · · Score: 5, Informative

    >> Maybe i just haven't found a good RSS reader yet. They all seem to me to be lacking something.

    Thats right, the built in crap or even standalone readers just show you whats recent. Get a reader like aKregator

    1) Integrates with Kontact and Konqueror showing articles next to your todo list and emails
    2) Manages articles as read/unread as apposed to just whats "current"
    3) Allows advanced searching through indexed articles (hate searching slashdot for that article?)
    4) Allows a convenient way to archive articles for later read on many websites without having to visit the websites

    I do agree the RSS built into firefox and ie7 and even many standalone readers are just useless, they just show you whats currently on the site. aKregator allows you to catch up on news any time.

  2. Re:Not suprised by lawpoop · · Score: 4, Informative

    I read the slashdot from page. However, I have RSS subscriptions to some of the craigslist categories (jobs, gigs, and for sale) of my locality and also digg. For these sites, I don't acutally want to read their front page. In the case of craigslist, the 'front page' doesn't actually have any more information than the RSS feed itself, so the RSS feed is more effecient. In the case of Digg, they have inane summaries and commentaries. Don't need 'em.

    At other times, I had subscriptions to hack-a-day and freshmeat. Freshmeat was information overload, and hack-a-day didn't really warrant an RSS to read a new item once in a day.

    So I think there is a 'right amount' of information that make a good RSS feed.

    --
    Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
    -- Pablo Picasso