New Tricks

I have never utilized RSS or webfeeds. I use Drudge as my information salt lick, and dig through the stacks of stories on various online news outlets when I have the time. By tomorrow, I will be loading my plate with webfeeds, and I anticipate that life may be a little easier because of it.

Amy Gahran does a great service to the uninitiated in her concise 12 part coverage of all things webfeed. Among the highlights of webfeeds are the ability to manage information overload, clean up the clutter, and provide an internet communication tool without the spam.

The applications for campaigns are striking, particular when you consider the practical drawbacks of email newsletters (such as overly restrictive spam filters and cluttered inboxes).

Webfeeds also get beyond two key quandaries associated with email newsletters. The first is frequency. Webfeeds are always there, and though information is pushed to the user, it is ultimately at the user's discretion as to when the information is viewed.

The second is relevancy. With webfeeds information can be updated continuously and thus maintains relevance. Email newsletters pose a risk of arriving with stale information. Stale information is at best a nuisance.

Webfeeds haven't exploded yet, but they will.