19 July 07 | tags: internet |
The Tyranny of the RSS Feed
For a long time, I avoided RSS feeds, both reading others' and publishing my own. I think I was it was my interest in design. What was the point, I thought, of putting all the time and effort into creating and coding website designs if you just regularly culled the content from websites style-free? But I began to publish my own feed some time ago, because I wanted people to read my blog in whichever way they preferred. Plus, I came to realize that it really is the content that makes a website. The flashiest design in the world won't make up for the fact the content is weak, or nonexistent. And strong content is best served by a design that simply, effectively, presents that content. So, syndicate away!
Recently, I also gave in to the ever-increasing amount of websites I want to keep up with, and spent some time plugging them all into Google Reader. Now I'm obsessed. It could be a full-time job, just reading all new feeds posts as they pop up. Although Gmail's storage has trained me out of my compulsion to have a completely empty email inbox, I've now discovered this does not transfer over to RSS feeds. I find myself checking back in to catch any new posts as if I'm swatting flies, unable to let one get past me. No sooner do I mark all as read then twenty more unread come around.
Anyway, I've concluded I need to go and do something else with my vacation. Like clean the house, or look for more job leads. No one post anything important while I'm away, okay?