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31% of net users using RSS, only 4% realise it

31% of net users using RSS, only 4% realise it

Recent research conducted by Yahoo! and Ipsos reveal that 31% of all net users use RSS but only 4% actually realise they are using it (report here (pdf)), and 12% are roughly aware of what RSS is.

Slashdot has some interesting comments, and Robert Scoble goes off on a rant about 1978, Unix and some other rubbish whilst totally misunderstanding the figures: it’s not that people don’t use or like RSS, its still not being marketed properly because they still don’t know what it is!

View Comments (4)
  • you are missing the point entirely. it’s not that rss isn’t being properly marketed, it’s that people don’t give a rip about the technology (name, format, logo, etc.) – it’s what it can do for them that matters. people don’t need to know anything about it. it doesn’t need marketing at all – nobody tries to sell you on the value of pvc plumbing. the yahoo study (which is 3 months old, btw, why is it being discussed now?) clearly demonstrates that rss is plumbing. the my.yahoo service is an outstanding example of a transparent use of rss and what it will eventually become. if my dad can use rss, love it, and not even know it, that’s what it’s about. let’s get over the idea that real world users need to learn about and adopt syndication technologies and start building killer apps on top of it that people can’t live without.

  • Skip has a valid point there – the focus should be on the needs and not on the technology. Meaning, what RSS can do for you and not what is RSS technology.

  • Sorry, again I didn’t articulate myself properly because I couldn’t agree more with what you are saying skip, but with a marketing background I see the what RSS can do as a marketing idea and I’m not suggesting that the technology needs to be marketed because its irrelevant to the user experience. RSS is a brand that should marketed for what it delivers, or as you ay what it can do for them.

  • I use RSS for marketing purposes and also to post html to my website Blog Smart Resources through the use of such online methods as Feeddigest.com. I do believe that most non web design people do not know the faintest about RSS but they do see that it works and the results that it produces are what are important in my opinion.

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