The overlooked Internet technology: the RSS feed

The Internet has changed life on this planet forever, but dare I say it, it is not perfect.

Shortcomings:

• Advertising, ubiquitous
• Trivialization (Facebook, Twitter)
• Spam (email)
  

There is one underutilized technology, however, that holds at bay the aforementioned troika: the RSS feed. You go to a news website, hit subscribe, and read it all updates in Google Reader (or other reader). That's all there is to it.

I was somewhat behind the curve on this recently, before I got going with it, and wondered if I was the only one. I surveyed some 68 members of an email list I maintain (for tennis). Here's what I asked:

BRIEF (nonscientific) TECH SURVEY

1. Do you subscribe by RSS/Atom to newsfeeds and/or blog posts?

2. If so, to how many of each, roughly?

3. If so, do you use Google Reader, or other reader (which?)

4. Any other comments on the subject solicited.

27% responded to a single emailing.

One used RSS, one inquired about it. Here are comments:

• Read Huffington Post and blogs there occasionally
• I do absolutely nothing with respect to RSS type news feeds. I am on a number of e-mail distrubution lists, and I virtually always delete those without reading. Now, if it was a news feed about Winnetka tennis...that's another story!!!
• I do not subscribe to any news or blog feeds.
• I do not subscribe to any RSS newsfeeds.
• I do not subscribe, but I do use Google and Ask on occasion.
• I don't
• I dont subscribe to those --I read few blogs, but do get three or four daily feeds from orgs or industries I keep up with. They come via Comcast mail, which I use.
• I don't subscribe to those things.
• I just got a Kindle as a Christmas gift from my wife, so my reading volume has nicely increased. I subscribe to RSS/Atom feeds directly through My Yahoo page.
• I rarely subscribe to RSS feeds. To question, do you use Google Reader, "not sure."
• I subscribe to no newsfeeds or blogs. I do subscribe to 5 podcasts on iTunes. The podcasts are, I think, RSS feeds.
• No I don't use either.
• NO, IMMEDIATE NEWS NOT THAT IMPORTANT TO ME. BLOG POSTS ARE MOSTLY OPINIONATED RANTS AND WHAT SOMEONE HAD FOR BREAKFAST LAST NIGHT
• No.
• Use Google Reader only and cannot get it to do what I what, i.e. spy on my competitors. Not feeds in either formant but am interested - suggestions on a primer for the novice?
• Wrote back, but did not answer question(s), perhaps didn't understand them.
• Wrote back, but did not answer question(s), perhaps didn't understand them.
• Wrote back, but did not answer question(s), perhaps didn't understand them.

In our opinion, RSS offers a quick and easy way to keep up with news, favorite blogs -- and keep the advertising and spam at bay.