Is Twitter the New RSS?
As Twitter becomes more and more popular, I think it makes sense to consider the possibility that Twitter may become the new standard for providing some of the same basic functions that RSS is known for. From a marketing point of view, I think that one of the most important functions of an RSS feed is the ability to create a crowd.
In our fast paced and frantic world we require the help of others to make many of our decisions. Instead of reading all of the blogs devoted to the areas that interest us, it makes more sense for us to briefly scan over the blogs related to our niche hoping to find a few that send us the signal that says “stop and read further, you may have struck gold”. One of those signs is the existence of a crowd, any kind of group or gathering sends the signal that at least a few people with interests similar to your own think that the site is worth their attention.
As human beings we can’t help but think, if it’s worth their attention, maybe its worth mine. Displaying a feedcount of 50,000 subscribed RSS readers instantly and clearly conveys the message “I am worth your time”. It is for this reason that some internet marketers have suggested “borrowing” the code from another blogger’s stats to display on your site. In my opinion Twitter provides this ability to create a crowd, inherent to RSS with the addition of some bonus features.
One of the bonuses is that Twitter facilitates conversation in a special way. Of course with RSS and a blog your readers can converse with you via comments and email, however in my view this is not nearly as quick and convenient as conversing via “tweets”.
For this reason I view RSS more like “talking at” your audience and Twitter more like “talking to” your audience. People respond better to a conversation then being talked at, and conversation serves to build a connection between you the writer and your audience. Readers who feel passionate and connected to your site are much more likely to contribute to the life and growth of your site, follow your suggestions, and spread positive information about you via word of mouth.
I left the most important reason that Twitter might be the new RSS for last. The buzz about RSS seems to be dying and the buzz about Twitter seems to be growing. RSS is great for aggregating your feeds if you yourself are a blogger and you need to keep track of all the news in your industry. However most of the people I know that are not techies or bloggers, don’t even bother with RSS.
All of us in the online business industry, are subject to ebb and flow of the latest trends on the net. Four years ago most of us hadn’t heard of social bookmarking, now there are sites who receive hundreds of thousand of page views a month from social bookmarking sites.
You have to ask yourself if it makes sense to invest in building your RSS subscription if RSS is going out of style. I am not saying to avoid building up your RSS subscription count, I am just advising that you don’t make it your number one priority.
