Dave Winer and Susan Mernit this weekend both comment/point to a recent post by Amy Campbell about why RSS has been challenged so far to "go mainstream."
Amy writes:
"What I'm trying to say is that most people don't even know what a blog is, let alone an RSS feed or how to actually utilize an aggregator. I think blog enthusiasts miss this point often. RSS needs a PR campaign. It's not going to be mainstream, until it's simply a button that people can push. Syndication needs to be incorporated into web tools and news sites with less jargon and requiring less technical understanding. Yahoo!'s taking a step in the right direction."
This is not so much a technology issue, but a marketing one. RSS, as Amy writes, needs a PR campaign. Dave Winer is leading the way with his terrific new site, ReallySimpleSyndication.com, but it has an inherent challenge. Since the site is a blog, it may only preach to the converted. We, the small community of PR bloggers, can play a role here in banging the drum for RSS.
I have been amazed by our efforts to organize the upcoming Global PR Blog Week; and have been especially impressed in the leadership of Trevor Cook and Constantin Basturea in putting together an awesome wiki and program. In the spirit of this I urge all bloggers who regularly interface with the media - PR and otherwise - to regularly talk up RSS in your conversations with the press.
* If you subscribe to a reporter's newspaper, magazine, web, TV or radio RSS feeds, give them feedback.
* If a media outlet you love lacks feeds, ask the reporter when they may add them.
* If a reporter you know has already covered RSS/news aggregators, congratulate them on being ahead of the curve.
* If a reporter you know hasn't covered the topic, encourage them to do so. Offer to give them a demo.
If we all pitch in I am convinced we can help give RSS the boost it really deserves.
