The proverbial “shit” has hit the fan this week about the death of Google reader but it’s not the only service scheduled to meet with the hangman’s noose – iGoogle is also scheduled to die this year as well.
There are two reasons I’m commenting on this subject here – first and foremost – I have a blog post which gives instructions on how to use iGoogle to subscribe to an RSS feed as part of your master plan to master the internet while reaching out to potential customer via your business blog. With the publication of this post, I can now create a link to direct future visitors who find themselves on that page – perplexed and bewildered – to this page to get their questions answered.
The second reason for writing this post is to let you know that RSS is not dead – the technology lives on – its just being used by different applications.
There’s a great article on the death of Google Reader over at Fast Company. Within that article you’ll find this valuable paragraph:
Increasingly popular social news reader apps such as Pulse and Flipboard, and Taptu […] are built on RSS, though their users might not even realize they’re using that technology. In fact, they often have an option to import Google Reader feeds.
If you’re a Google Reader user – check out the apps above to continue to access your feed subscriptions.
For those who signed up for blogging based upon the multitude of “internet marketing gurus” who told you that RSS feeds were the best thing since sliced bread – never fear. Your blog’s RSS feed is still a VALUABLE connection and communication tool for your business – even if it’s not being accessed via an RSS feed reader.
To clarify that last statement; as technology evolves – there are better and more elegant ways to access the data your business blog’s RSS feed contains.
In conclusion – if you started blogging because someone told you that the reason blogs were great for your business was because they “came equipped with RSS” – don’t stop blogging because RSS is dead or because Google is killing their RSS feed reader.
To be honest, the ability for your visitors to subscribe to your blog’s RSS feeds was always – in my opinion – at best a tertiary reason to be blogging for your business unless your target audience is the tech crowd. RSS subscribers have always been confined to the uber-nerdy and ultra techy circles (a.k.a. the web’s content creators). These were the primary users of Google reader – which is the reason behind the VERY vocal outcry over its demise.
If you’re upset over the death of Google Reader – in the words of a popular Meme – thanks to KnowYourMeme
Meanwhile, the rest of humanity is collectively scratching their head wondering what all the fuss is about.
