Is Social Media Killing RSS?

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a great way to consume information on the web. Clicking on the orange RSS icon (available on most blogs and news sites) allows you to "subscribe" to that source using your favorite RSS Reader. I recommend using most popular one: Google Reader.

However, despite its usefulness, RSS hasn't really seen massive adoption. Recently I've heard many techy types exclaiming they've stopped checking their RSS Reader. Instead they're finding more relevant links on Twitter. Social sites like Twitter are specifically built to encourage a lot of sharing. If you use Twitter to follow people in your industry, you'll inevitably be exposed to interesting discussion and links to very relevant topics.

Another emerging player in the link-sharing business is Facebook. Unlike RSS readers, Facebook has seen massive adoption, now boasting over 400 million users. Average folks can understand Facebook's simple interface. They’re also finding that it’s pretty easy to share news articles and Youtube links with their friends and family on Facebook.

So, have social media sites killed RSS before it reached its full potential? Personally I'm still using RSS for a number of things. Here are a few of my favorite uses for RSS:

Handy Uses for RSS

1. Blogs - I'm a big fan of getting notified rather than constantly checking websites. If you follow a few dozen blogs, you don't want to be checking each of them every day for new posts. RSS readers allow you to browse quickly through new posts.
2. Discover People on Twitter - Twitter's advanced search provides an RSS feed for your search results. For example, if you're an avid rock climber, you can search for people within 25 miles of your city who mention "rock climbing" in their tweet. Checking the RSS feed can help you discover local, like-minded enthusiasts.
3. Craigslist Searches - Craigslist also provides an RSS feed for search results. Let's say you’re looking for an apartment downtown for between $600 and $1200. After your first search, subscribe to the RSS feed, and you can stop obsessively checking Craigslist every few hours! The most recent results will be waiting for you in Google Reader.

Do you think RSS will survive? Will it be killed by more popular information sharing tools? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Don't Repeatedly Check Websites - Get Notified

When email first became popular, people started forming a peculiar habit: they would repeatedly check for new email multiple times a day, like an info-addict. If they got a new email they were quite excited ("You got mail!"). If not, feelings of disappointment and regret ensued. Why should we spend so much time checking for things? Wouldn't it be better to know exactly when to check? Fortunately many services exist to help solve this problem. Email is an easy target so let's start there. If you use Gmail, I recommend these:

Gmail Notifier - Great for most users. It puts a little blue envelope in your system tray when you have new mail. Double click it to access your Gmail account.

Gmail Notifer Plus for Windows 7 - This notifier takes advantage of some new Windows 7 task bar features. It provides options when you hover over it, allowing you to preview and open new emails.

What About Other Email Providers?

Actually, my favoriate email notifier is Digsby, which handles all of your Instant Messaging needs in addition to notifications for social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn) and a variety of email providers: Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL/AIM Mail, IMAP, and POP accounts. I find there notification interface to be the most intuitive and useful.

Digsby Gmail Notification

What About Other Things I Check Too Much, Like Twitter?

One of my main gripes when I started using Twitter was that I wasn't notified when someone started talking to me. People converse with you on Twitter by "mentioning" you, which means they include your username with the "@" symbol in front ("@martymatheny" in my case) in their tweet. Twitter would email me if someone sent me a Direct Message, but not if they mentioned me. I didn't want to repeatedly check Twitter, so I started using Boxcar, which is an iPhone app. Boxcar kindly sends me a "push notification" on my iPhone when I'm mentioned, so I know when to engage. It can also notify you based on the results of any Twitter search query (e.g. "MyCompany").

Cool, What About Blogs?

The best way to check blogs and news sources is use an RSS reader, but that's a topic for another post. Do you have a favorite notification service?

Why Should I Use Twitter?

If you've spoken with me in the last year, I probably wanted to talk about Twitter.  I think it's an amazing resource, but most people struggle with the first and most important question:  "Why should I use it?"  A popular variation of this question is:  "Why should I care about what you had for breakfast?"

Let me dispel that rumor right now:  Twitter isn't just a bunch of people describing meals (although that occasionally happens).  There are people on Twitter right now talking about your favorite things in the world.  There are people you know, people in your city, thought leaders in your industry, and all sorts of folks who leave brief remarks every so often.  If you can find the right people to "follow" on Twitter, you'll be much more informed about the topics you love.

David Carr has a much more eloquent description of how he realized Twitter's value in today's New York Times.

OK, How Do I Get Started?

Create an account then start searching for people you know and topics you're interested in.  My advice is to focus on listening first, then start posting updates later.  You'll know you're following enough people when there's new stuff every time you check Twitter.  If there isn't new stuff, it's time to follow more interesting people.

I'll post some tips later about how to make Twitter a better experience by using advanced search, RSS and some great Twitter client software.  If you have any questions about getting started, feel free to send me a note.  Better yet, you can ask me on Twitter.