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 Artist Logs: RSS feeds: An observation // Websites for musicians and artists

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RSS feeds: An observation

8 February 2005, by Andy Hume

RSS as a form of syndicating content revolutionised the way I worked on the web. Not just because I could get hold of the content that was relevant to me as soon as it was available, but also because I knew that content I was producing was instantly being zapped to my readers. That’s quite a comforting thought.

However, as time has gone on, the list of feeds that I am subscribed to has grown rather a lot. I am seriously suffering from feed overload.

My guess is that anyone working on the web experiences the same problem. The days of sitting and leisurely checking my morning feeds over a quick slice of toast and a coffee are long gone. There’s just too much to get your head around. Bill Burnham recently wrote about Saving RSS in which he raises some serious side effects of these issues, and how methods for solving them may develop.

However, the point I want to make here is purely to do with today’s RSS culture, and with the all important factor of getting your content read. When I am sifting through bloglines—particularly after an extended period of leave—sites that do not provide a full RSS feed have probably 80% less chance of being read than one that delivers their content to me in full.

Basically, I’ve got better things to do than open new windows to load a post, particulalrly if it’s not one of my ‘favoured’ sites. Unless the title is sufficiently intriguing to pique my interest, it may as well have not come into my bloglines. Small extracts or summaries are a start, but not much better in my opinion.

People: Full RSS feeds.

Bandwidth is your only excuse; and if you can’t stretch to more, be aware of the potential dangers and reassess your budget.

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