About 14 months ago, I responded to myriad “RSS is Dead” stories by asking you, my RSS readers, if you were really reading. At that point, Google’s Feedburner service was telling me I had more than 200,000 subscribers, but it didn’t feel like the lights were on – I mean, that’s a lot of people, but my pageviews were low, and with RSS, it’s really hard to know if folks are reading you, because the engagement happens on the reader, not here on the site. (That’s always been the problem publishers have had with RSS – it’s impossible to monetize. I mean, think about it. Dick Costolo went to Twitter after he sold Feedburner to Google. Twitter! And this was *before* it had a business model. Apparently that was far easier to monetize than RSS).
Now, I made the decision long ago to let my “full feed” go into RSS, and hence, I don’t get to sell high-value ads to those of you who are RSS readers. (I figure the tradeoff is worth it – my main goal is to get you hooked on my addiction to parentheses, among other things.)
Anyway, to test my theory that my RSS feed was Potemkin in nature, I wrote a December, 2010 post asking RSS readers to click through and post a comment if they were, in fact, reading me via RSS. Overwhelmingly they responded “YES!” That post still ranks in the top ten of any post, ever, in terms of number of comments plus tweets – nearly 200.
Now, put another way this result was kind of pathetic – less than one in 1000 of my subscribers answered the call. Perhaps I should have concluded that you guys are either really lazy, secretly hate me, or in fact, really aren’t reading. Instead, I decided to conclude that for every one of you that took the time to comment or Tweet, hundreds of you were nodding along in agreement. See how writers convince themselves of their value?
Which is a long way to say, it’s time for our nearly-yearly checkup. And this time, I’m going to give you more data to work with, and a fresh challenge. (Or a pathetic entreaty, depending on your point of view.)
Ok, so here’s what has happened in 14 months: My RSS feed has almost doubled – it now sports nearly 400,000 subscribers, which is g*dd*am impressive, no? I mean, who has FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND people who’ve raised their hands and asked to join your club? I’ve WON, no? Time for gold-plated teeth or somesh*t, right?
Well, no.
While it’s true that nearly 400,000 of you have elected to follow my RSS feed, the grim truth is more aptly told by what Google’s Feedburner service calls my “Reach.” By their definition, reach means “the total number of people who have taken action — viewed or clicked — on the content in your feed.”
And that number, as you can see, is pathetic. I mean, “click,” I can understand. Why click when you can read the full article in your reader? But “view”?! Wait, lemme do some math here….OK, one in 594 of you RSS readers are even reading my stuff. That’s better than the one in 1000 who answered the call last time, but wow, it’s way worse than I thought. Just *reading* doesn’t require you click through, or tweet something, or leave a comment.
Either RSS is pretty moribund, or, I must say, I am deeply offended.
What I really want to know is this: Am I normal? Is it normal for sites like mine to have .0017 percent of its RSS readers actually, well, be readers?
Or is the latest in a very long series of posts (a decade now, trust me) really right this time – RSS is well and truly dead?
Here’s my test for you. If I get more comments and tweets on this post than I have “reach” by Google Feedburner status, well, that’s enough for me to pronounce RSS Alive and Well (by my own metric of nodding along, of course). If it’s less than 664, I’m sorry, RSS is Well And Truly Dead. And it’s all your fault.
(PS, that doesn’t mean I’ll stop using it. Ever. Insert Old Man Joke Here.)
Many read but don’t post or interact – like me.
Google Reader here. I’ve tried putting things in my Facebook or Google+ streams, but I much prefer leaving those for actual personal relationships. I *love* being able to pull everything into the RSS reader. Wouldn’t mind a bit though if you did the “click through for full article” model.
Many read but don’t post or interact – like me.
I subscribe via RSS and read most your articles. In fact I read almost all my news this way. I tend to read your article more often than others that I must click through to read. I simply don’t like to noise on a typical page. But that, obviously doesn’t help your page views for advertising.
One of the innovations that have pushed my “click through” rate is Reeder integrating Readability into their product. I subscribe to Readability to support journalism. And with thee integration, I simply need to click my Readability button at the top of the page and I “click through” without having to leave my feed reader.
So my question is: Would that provide you the data you need? At least you would be paid some amount by Readability. But that probably wouldn’t make up for lost add revenue.
Or in the end, do you just want to know your being heard and make a difference. I get this also since I’m a university prof.
Thanks for your writings.
I’ll have to look into it…
RSS reader.
Greader here
Also read, but rarely comment or click through. I love RSS. I read far more content with RSS than I ever would without it.
As for your blog, I probably read about 70% of your content.
I read on RSS as well
RSS will never die!!!!!!
Definitely not dead. I have certain feeds appear in my Apple mail. Wondering how closely the Google Reader metrics would mirror interaction on your Twitter feed.
Can’t live without RSS, personally…
Still, it is just by chance that I happened to read this while at my desk rather than on my phone (if I were on my phone, I probably wouldn’t have commented). And I usually don’t bother reading articles regarding the death of RSS, but I just happened to be towards the end of my RSS queue, so I figured why not. So I don’t know how much stock I would place in the metrics gathered by this exercise as I’m not sure how much it truly correlates to your readership.
On the other hand I suppose it’s better than nothing.
I read by RSS. Not every article but it is there for me to look quickly through it and a title will grab my attention when I have time. So I think you should provide it similar to how ARS Techncia provides there feed where some of the juicy stories only read the first paragraphs in the RSS and then you click on a link to see the whole thing. Then when you get clicks on those links you’ll get a much better understanding of how big your RSS readership really is. I love RSS so please keep publishing that way just add in some new mechanisms to measure your readership.
Maybe I’m getting old but I much prefer RSS over Twitter, Facebook, you name it.
Maybe I’m getting old but I much prefer RSS over Twitter, Facebook, you name it.
Reading via RSS in my email. I usually click through each article and stop to read relevant ones or leave them in the feed to return to.
Maybe I’m getting old but I much prefer RSS over Twitter, Facebook, you name it.
I am also reading via RSS. Same as most of the rest… Not much commenting, but checking the headlines daily and reading a bunch of articles.
Token RSS reader comment.
I read via RSS.
I read via RSS. To make sure I do, I continually “weed” my feeds for those that continue to be worthwhile.
still use RSS heavily, and always read your posts. RSS allows me to be exposed to an incredible breadth of content, but I control how and *when* I consume it. Twitter and other options feel too “on” all the time. Perhaps a generational thing.
RSS reader checkin’ in!
I wonder why so many people who pronounce RSS dead do not seem to realize that RSS is an infrastructure, not a solution. It is more like a pipeline and not like oil (and definitely not like cars or planes or anything else that consumes oil which runs through a pipeline). Of course, if you think that RSS is a solution, you will be disappointed. It would be great if people could start thinking of RSS as an infrastructure. I am sure this would open their eyes and help them see how great RSS is. So, please do not turn off your RSS feed!
Another RSS reader here.
I read all headlines and some articles. I really enjoy RSS and hope that, while it might never become very popular, it never goes away either. I wouldn’t read nearly as much stuff on the internet if it wasn’t for RSS and Google Reader.
Buh
I read via RSS and really appreciate it. I don’t have time to browse the web stuff randomly, but when something interesting hits my RSS feed, which I go through once a day, I read it in full.
I read all headlines and some articles. I really enjoy RSS and hope that, while it might never become very popular, it never goes away either. I wouldn’t read nearly as much stuff on the internet if it wasn’t for RSS and Google Reader.
rss rocks
I’m reading via RSS.
yes, I read it via rss.
I’ve long had a love-hate relationship with RSS. It’s great as a publisher. You can convince yourself that you are super important when you have reached a certain number of subscribers. But you can’t verify that your subscribers are reading. Neither can print magazines verify that their subscribers are reading. But then, they get paid whether the subscriber reads or not.
As a reader, RSS gives me an option. I can read you or ignore you. I don’t have to visit your blog to do one or the other. You come to me. Then I choose. I rather like that option as I subscribe to several hundred daily blogs. Most of them I ignore. Sometimes I ignore yours.
The truth is, I don’t have enough hours in a day to read every blog. Even the good ones. And there are a lot of blogs I like to read. But if I read every one I like to read every single day, then I’d never get any work done and my wife wouldn’t like me any more since my income is directly derived from my production level as a freelancer who produces content for myself and my modest collection of clients.
When I do read, I read through my RSS feeder. I browse through the headlines every day. When I see one that catches my attention, I click on it. Sometimes it’s yours. Sometimes it isn’t.
So the answer to your question is this: I read all of your headlines. I read some of the blog posts. Rarely do I click and visit the blog, but if I do it’s either to comment (rarely) or to copy/paste the URL for an attribution link when something resonates with me enough that I want to use it as a trampoline. Make of that what you will.
I read all my sites through RSS, so I have the same dilemma
If it wasn’t for RSS, I would read very little on the internet. I don’t have time to go out and find things. I comment on posts even less, but I’ll do it this once to show you RSS is still alive.
I’ve long had a love-hate relationship with RSS. It’s great as a publisher. You can convince yourself that you are super important when you have reached a certain number of subscribers. But you can’t verify that your subscribers are reading. Neither can print magazines verify that their subscribers are reading. But then, they get paid whether the subscriber reads or not.
As a reader, RSS gives me an option. I can read you or ignore you. I don’t have to visit your blog to do one or the other. You come to me. Then I choose. I rather like that option as I subscribe to several hundred daily blogs. Most of them I ignore. Sometimes I ignore yours.
The truth is, I don’t have enough hours in a day to read every blog. Even the good ones. And there are a lot of blogs I like to read. But if I read every one I like to read every single day, then I’d never get any work done and my wife wouldn’t like me any more since my income is directly derived from my production level as a freelancer who produces content for myself and my modest collection of clients.
When I do read, I read through my RSS feeder. I browse through the headlines every day. When I see one that catches my attention, I click on it. Sometimes it’s yours. Sometimes it isn’t.
So the answer to your question is this: I read all of your headlines. I read some of the blog posts. Rarely do I click and visit the blog, but if I do it’s either to comment (rarely) or to copy/paste the URL for an attribution link when something resonates with me enough that I want to use it as a trampoline. Make of that what you will.
I’m reading via RSS.
I am certainly not reading anything in my RSS feed ever. Including this. Or should that be excluding?)
Ha.
reading via RSS – all posts (wouldn’t do so without RSS)
I’m reading via RSS.
rss is the best, yes.
Long time rss reader…
I’m reading via RSS. Have been for years.
Long time rss reader…
Yes I read via RSS.
I subscribe via RSS. When I read on the desktop PC, I usually click through — but very often, I open my RSS reader on handheld devices of various kinds, and then that’s more troublesome, sometimes — when I read previously downloaded posts in an area without internet access — even impossible.
So not only do I read your posts via RSS, but there was a good chance — call it 1 in 3, I guess — that I would have been unable to write this comment when I saw this post. Woruld I have made a note, mental or digital, and returned when I next found myself with internet access? Perhaps. I’m not sure.
I subscribe via RSS. When I read on the desktop PC, I usually click through — but very often, I open my RSS reader on handheld devices of various kinds, and then that’s more troublesome, sometimes — when I read previously downloaded posts in an area without internet access — even impossible.
So not only do I read your posts via RSS, but there was a good chance — call it 1 in 3, I guess — that I would have been unable to write this comment when I saw this post. Woruld I have made a note, mental or digital, and returned when I next found myself with internet access? Perhaps. I’m not sure.
I’m reading via RSS.
I. read. post.
Loyal “Google Reader” reader here.
I use RSS to read more than 20k of headlines a month. While I prefer full feed RSS, I will click through to a web page if the article requires it. RSS is integral to my information acquisition work flow. So, you may count me as 1 of 664. I appreciate your content and the RSS feed that provides it.
Thanks!
dont kill the RSS
Long live RSS.