Avoid using feeds as content Jul27 '07
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# (2 of 2): Matthom
1 hour, 29 minutes after the fact. (Fri 27 Jul 2007, 10:27 AM CST)
I see your point. Makes sense.
But consider... Why should content publishers sacrifice "proper usages" for inexperience? If users don't know how to load a blog in a browser, or if they prefer only looking at Facebook for all information, it's their problem/preference. Certain things can be taught. If you're suggesting an audience that isn't familiar with RSS feeds and readers, that can be taught.
I don't consider myself to be a "purist super geek." The only difference between me and a "lazy common denominator" is I am more educated on the right way (proper usages, etc) to do things. I am simply a step ahead learning-wise, not intelligence-wise. If people want to learn how to do it right, they'll ask me, since I keep up with all this on a regular basis. Key word: want.
As an example, I use Flickr to post photos, rather than passing email attachments around. Should I alert my family or friends via email every time I post new photos? Heck no. Since those family and friends may not be "versed" in using Flickr to stay updated on my photos, why should I have to go down to their level just to accommodate inexperience or unwillingness?
Maybe it is my "geek stubborness" that tells me to refuse coddling the users that aren't willing to learn the proper way to do things. Or maybe this is all just my opinion. I really don't know because the internet changes so fast, it's hard to keep up with the "right way" to do things - and who's to say it's right or wrong? Nobody... so perhaps I am looking into this too much. But that's my job writing the type of blog I write. Analyze, examine, and report. I'm no more correct than Walt Mossberg, but I'm also not entirely wrong.
It's all how you perceive it, and how much time you're willing to spend on the topic.
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is published and produced by Matt Thommes - an independent publishing enthusiast, mobile blogger, content creator, informative writer, web developer from Chicago.
Never one to conform, Matt intends to promote the effect the web has on our lives, in an effort to intensify, instruct, and clarify all that is happening around us.
Don't worry about how your content is organized at the user-end. Just worry about publishing.
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# (1 of 2): Andy » anatkinson.com
55 minutes after the fact. (Fri 27 Jul 2007, 9:53 AM CST)
depends on the audience IMO. For example, friends on facebook may not be savvy and may never visit my blog directly. If it is syndicated on Facebook they will see the blog posts in something that is familiar to them. I also think appealing to the LCD (lazy common denominator) makes sense: make it easy for them to find, at the risk of alienating a couple purist super geeks, and gain more widespread readership. Since my target audience is friends and family most of the time, then syndicating my blog on facebook works well. Of course this is all speculation, since there is no way I know of to see who might be clicking posts syndicated elsewhere, and stats for my Wordpress blog are not specific enough anyway.