You're going to want to subscribe to my RSS feed. It's the greatest thing since sliced bread - even better, in fact. You know you want to.

Does this image look familiar? It should, seeing as how it’s located a few inches away on your computer screen. What you’re looking at is not an unhappy traffic cone, orange space shuttle, or very shiny triangle - it’s the standard icon for an RSS (Really Simple Stupid Syndication) feed.

RSS FOR DUMMIES
When you think of “feed,” what are you reminded of? Using the magic of word definitions, what you’re probably thinking of right now is the consumption of food. Sadly, an RSS feed has absolutely nothing to do with eating (unless you’re reading a blog about food or you’ve decided to devour your computer).

So, what exactly is an RSS feed? Well, using the always true #1 internet source there is (Wikipedia), I found a definition:

“RSS…is used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a “feed”, “web feed”, or “channel”, contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that’s easier than checking them manually.

WHO NEEDS FEEDS?
A feed is just another method to deliver your content to someone. It makes it easier for people to view your writing! Why would anyone want this? RSS feeds simply seem to have no purpose.

REVOLUTIONARY RSS REVELATION
A feed is kind of like a newspaper that gets delivered to you instantly whenever something new is posted up. I don’t get that kind of service even if I bribe the delivery boy! If you normally have to pay for a newspaper subscription, why not charge for an RSS subscription? The quick and easy delivery to someones feed reader must cost some sort of money. After all, it saves your readers a precious five seconds that they would normally spend navigating to your blog. If you add a simple option to subscribe to your RSS feed for a price, it’ll be much fairer for all the parties involved.

A CLOSING NOTICE
Did you enjoy this post? Did it float your boat/tickle your pickle/rhyme1 your rhyme2? Consider subscribing to the Blog Badly RSS feed. You’ll get all the fun of blogging without any of the actual knowledge!

Posted by Max Miroff | 3 Comments »

If you haven’t heard of rssHugger then, well, I wouldn’t be surprised - it’s a fairly new RSS (really stupid [we’ll get into this later] syndication) aggregate that is supposed to increase feed readership and publicity.

WHAT IS IT
Imagine your feed. Imagine a website. Imagine your feed on this website. What you’ve just thought up of is the genius of rssHugger. Through the magical series of tubes we call the Internets, it grabs your feed and publishes it on its very own page at rsshugger.com/[yourfeed.com]

“rssHugger is a new website developed to help bloggers promote their blogs, and to help visitors discover new blogs that write about subjects that the readers are interested in. Through the power of the internet and viral marketing, rssHugger looks to bring blog writers and blog readers closer together”

WHATS IN IT FOR ME?
This is always an excellent question to ask in determining whether something is right for you. rssHugger promises to bring more visitors to your site and if that’s what floats your boat then hop on the Hugger train.

THOUGHTS
Blogs are supposed to be desolate wastelands much like the frigid tundras of Siberia (bears optionally included). This makes rssHugger a promotional tool and if you want to blog badly then promotional tools are big NO-NO’s.

Posted by Max Miroff | 1 Comment »