Unconventional Wisdom - The Tuvel Communications Blog – Engaging Your Customers in Unconventional Ways

11% of Blog Readers Use RSS to Manage Feeds

August 15, 2005 by Kari Rippetoe

This survey has been blogged already but following is Potomac Tech Wire’s version. I wonder how many blog readers use email to keep up? Commoncraft recently notified readers that he was doing away with email updates.

It interesting, I seem to get the most understanding of feeds when explained in relation to MS Outlook or other email programs…

Study: 11% of Blog Readers Use RSS Technology to Manage Feeds

New York --About 11% of weblog readers use RSS (Really Simple 
Syndication) to sort through the increasing number of blogs available, 
according to a new study by Nielsen//NetRatings. 

The firm said that 
5% of blog readers use feed aggregation software and more than 6% 
percent use a feed aggregating web site to monitor RSS feeds from 
blogs. "While RSS is an established technology, the growing 
popularity of blogs has catapulted RSS into the spotlight as a content 
personalization tool," said Jon Gibs, a senior research manager for 
Nielsen//NetRatings. The majority of respondents to the survey were 
less familiar with RSS feeds. 

Among the other respondents, 23% 
understood RSS but did not use it, while two-thirds either did not 
understand the technology or had heard of it.

Categories: RSS

Strength.org offers RSS

August 12, 2005 by Kari Rippetoe

I spend a lot of time explaining the benefits of RSS/Really Simple Syndication to non-profits and companies. Here’s a Washington, DC based non-profit that makes their latest news available via RSS. Share Our Strength has also incorporated blog like features into their website.

Blogs and Community Building

August 11, 2005 by Mitch Arnowitz

Diva Marketing points to an American Cancer Society blogging effort and then some. Lisa Stone and RelayBlogger are featured here. Chris Dover (aka RelayBlogger) has also asked for feedback from the Relay for Life blogging effort.

Another great community effort was recently launched by the March of Dimes. Nancy White and Lee LeFever, of commoncraft (and MOD members!) are responsible for this effort.

It’s great to see national, branded non-profits blogging and (still) building communities (especially around advocacy issues). Non-profits understand ‘community building‘ more than corporate America does– that’s for sure. What’s interesting is that you can talk to a company about blogging but mention the term community building and eyes start to flicker. And, blogs are all about community building.

Speaking of community building, Nancy White has an interesting pos t about the changes that blogging has brought to her onlinefacilitation listserv. These days, I wonder if blogging has done (or will do) to email what email did to newsgroups.

Back to Chris Dover’s excellent best practices list he’s compiling, I want to take a closer read and offer input but one organization we can all learn from is Spirit of America. They have done a particularly good job of engaging the blogosphere, fundraising and getting mainstream media exposure.