May 1, 2008
I'm a fan of RSS. I've written about it [here][1], [here][2], [here][3], [here][4], [here][5] [here][6], [here][7] and [here][8].It may seem crazy for someone to be such an advocate about a type of technology, but I'm not alone. Today is the first ever [RSS Awareness Day][9], a fabricated holiday to tell people about the benefits of using RSS. ![][10]At a recent wedding shower for two friends, I had the complicated pleasure/chore of explaining what I do for work to the parents of my friends that were there. I'm currently a [Nomadic Laborer as The Economist][11] describes it, meaning I can work from wherever I get a solid internet connection and enough power to keep the gears turning all day. Coffee shops, vacation homes, or just my own bedroom are where I've done most of my work. I think this is great, but it can raise eyebrows when I try to explain it. Maybe I'm just bad at explaining things, but as the saying goes "some people just don't understand." (Is that even a saying?) Anyway, one thing that some of the older folks have never heard of, but seem pretty into once they get a whiff of is RSS. After explaining what it was and why it was a good habit to begin to one of my friends' Dad, he asked, "Sounds interesting, but what's in it for you?"I guess because I was a little too excited explaining the joys of RSS that he assumed -- and rightly so, I guess, -- that I was going to profit from him picking up the RSS habit. As I explained to him, that isn't the case, though that doesn't mean I wouldn't get something out of it. The way I answered his question, "what's in it for me", was this: Telling people about RSS is like telling people about a short-cut on a long road trip. If I discover a great way to save you a load of time, I wouldn't be a very good friend if I didn't share that information. It is exactly the same to me. RSS, if used right, will enrich your life by giving you more information about the things you care about while also saving you time by bringing that information to you, rather than you having to seek it out. And RSS is free to use, so it's worth trying out if you're unsure about whether it would interest you.So, because I like all of you and as a way to celebrate RSS Awareness Day, I'm going to share with you a few of my reasons for using RSS.1. Job Hunting with RSS. We all have to do it at some point in our lives and just like animal hunting, the ones that learn the tricks and do it well will survive and the others won't. Since you're reading my blog, I think I'm in favor of you surviving, so I'm willing to share this trick. Almost everything can be consumed via RSS and job listings are no different. Visit any online job board, and chances are there's a way to subscribe to the RSS feed. What this means is that rather than you having to remember to check the site for new job listings to see if any have been posted, you will no immediately when arrives, because it will appear in your RSS reader. This gives you the advantage of sending in your application before all the other people vying for the same position and it also helps you look good to the employer, because they will notice how fast you applied after the listing went up. Most companies now have blogs too, so you can sign up for those, as well. 2. Staying Informed with RSS. One could argue that all one needs to do to stay-informed is read the headlines and skim a few articles. I think there's some truth to this, though I'm also a fan of reading deep when the subject matter is important. But if you're short on time, but still want to stay up-to-date, skimming headlines in RSS is a great way to find out what is going on. I currently subscribe to about 150 rss feeds from news sites. These include TIME, NYTimes, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Editor & Publisher, Informed Comment, Huffington Post, Rolling Stone, The Nation, The Atlantic, Associated Press, McClatchy, Newsweek, MSNBC, CBS, FOXNews, Portfolio Mag., Reuters, Spiegel Online, US News and World Report, Christian Science Monitor, USAToday, CNN, Politico, BBC, London Times, The Guardian, Salon, Roll Call, DailyKos, The Hill, and on and on. Who would possibly ever visit and read all of these sites in a single day? I don't have the time and I'm sure you don't either. But with RSS, I'm able to sign up for the feed, which again, is completely free, and after that I don't have to visit that site to see what is new. When I go to my RSS Reader I can scan the headlines of all of these sites in a few minutes, and only take the time to click on the stories that really grab me and read those in-full. I recommend signing up for a lot of mainstream media sites, as well as a lot of blogs and alternative media sites. This is good for a few reasons. First, signing up for a lot of feeds lets you be able to see what the overall media narrative is at a given time. For example, as you quickly scan down the list of headlines, you can see what sites are covering the same stories or what stories may have been on one or two smaller outlets, but aren't being covered by anyone else. This is particularly useful with the Presidential campaign. Second, it is interesting to see what angle certain outlets take with their coverage, since all the sites are essentially covering the same things. It also lets you see what stories are going under-reported in the mainstream media, while being heavily discussed in the blogosphere. This will leave you better informed and change the way you view media and the world. All good things. 3. Keeping up with your industry If you are like me and want to stay informed about the industry in which you work RSS can really help with that too. By signing up for the best blogs or journals about your industry, you can quickly scan those headlines to see what the insiders in your field are buzzing about. 4. Entertainment All work and no play leaves Homer something something. But the same can be said about us. Only using RSS to read news is fine, but not that fun. There are a bunch of great blogs that you can read via RSS. Here are a few of my recent favorites: [Hot Chicks with Douchebags][12][Jake and Amir Dot Com][13][Postcards from Yo Momma][14][PostSecret][15][Stuff White People Like]16[The Fail Blog][17][Rules of Thumb][18]Those are just a few. There are dozens of music and art and design blogs I try to keep up with, but I'm needing to get to work, so I'll wrap this up. What are your reasons for reading or not reading RSS and if you do use it, what are your favorite RSS feeds? Share them in the comments. [1]: http://www.lawrence.com/blogs/makes_sense_me/2008/apr/29/rssspringcleaning/ [2]: http://www.lawrence.com/blogs/makes_sense_me/2008/apr/30/links2/ [3]: http://www.lawrence.com/blogs/makes_sense_me/2008/apr/11/musicmashups/ [4]: http://www.lawrence.com/blogs/makes_sense_me/2007/dec/13/depressinginfo/ [5]: http://www.lawrence.com/blogs/makes_sense_me/2007/dec/02/linksandnano/ [6]: http://www.lawrence.com/blogs/makes_sense_me/2008/feb/12/notpolitics/ [7]: http://www.lawrence.com/blogs/makes_sense_me/2008/feb/18/incaseyoumissedit/ [8]: http://www.lawrence.com/blogs/makes_sense_me/2008/apr/07/roundup/ [9]: http://www.dailyblogtips.com/today-rss-awareness-day/ [10]: http://rssday.org/banners/rssday365.gif [11]: http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?STORY_ID=10950378 [12]: http://www.hotchickswithdouchebags.com/ [13]: http://www.jakeandamir.com/ [14]: http://postcardsfromyomomma.com/ [15]: http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ [16]: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/ [17]: http://failblog.wordpress.com/ [18]: http://rulesofthumb.org/
Comments
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getjeffrey (anonymous) says...
video feeds are really fun too. my favs are stupidvideos.com and super deluxe.
May 1, 2008 at 2:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Shelby (anonymous) says...
Hot Chicks With Douchebags.com is friggin' awesome.I think I just 'baggified myself by using the phrase "friggin' awesome"
May 2, 2008 at 10:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )