Contentious' "Let's rename RSS" contest has a winner: Webfeed. Will Webfeed become the alternative name for RSS? Poynter's Steve Outing has his doubts. So do I, if only because it never works that easily. Take beta and VHS technology for example. When videotapes were first introduced, the only thing VHS had going for it was market share. Beta offers a higher quality product—which is why television stations and video production crews still use it. But it didn't matter; all VHS needed was market share to become the de facto consumer format. So, even if Webfeed should replace RSS, I won't be doing a find/replace anytime soon.
Speaking of blogs, Seth Godin commandeered "A penny for..." today as part of a blog tour to promote his new book. His take on business blogs is a good one: the only danger for a business blog is in its safety. The content style encouraged by blogs—frequent updates of opinionated thoughts—does not mix well with a chain of approvals and legal reviews. All you really need is a disclaimer folks.
What recovery? The advertising industry is reporting a recovery, but print outlets are not seeing it just yet. Newspapers and magazines are still somewhat thin. TV is not complaining, however, what with May sweeps in full swing and the final episode of Friends asking Super-Bowl sized prices for a :30 second spot.
Well, in line with Seth's advice, I will say those prices are greatly inflated. When any sitcom ends such a long run with this kind of fanfare, the show has already jumped the shark. My personal favorites—MASH, Cheers and even Seinfeld all needed to end when they did. Friends is late in my opinion.
Just a point of correction, and one of clarification.
The RSS nickname was not Poynter's in any way. It was mine, done through my weblog CONTENTIOUS. I do contribute to a Poynter weblog, but this was a completely separate project. Steve Outing did me the favor of covering the contest and volunteering as a judge.
Also, for clarification: The goal of this contest was to find a good nickname for RSS that would make this new communication medium more attractive and accessible to the vast majority of Internet users, who are not technically inclined. Since I like RSS very much and think it has great potential for a general audience, I've often tried to explain it to non-geeks. Literally, their eyes glaze over as soon as they hear the acronym. It's offputting, and it's an unnecessary obstacle to popular adoption.
So I decided to have the contest. I too have mixed feelings about the results. "Webfeed" is definitely not a perfect solution. I don't expect the people who have become accustomed to saying "RSS" to adopt "webfeed" anytime soon. That's OK, the early adopters are not the target audience for that nickname.
While I'm not thrilled with "webfeed," I do have anecdotal evidence that it succeeds with non-geeks better than "RSS." A couple of nights ago I explained webfeeds to a couple of non-geeks at a party. I used the term "webfeed" in my explanation. They listened with interest. They grasped the concept. They liked it. They want to try it. There was no barrier to their understanding or willingness to listen.
At the end of my explanation, I added, "By the way, if you search on the Web for 'webfeed' right now you won't find much, because the early adopters call this stuff "RSS" after the original technical standard." One person actually replied, "Well that's a stupid name! No wonder more people haven't heard about this."
I challenge the critics of this contest or its results to try that kind of experiment for themselves. Explain it using the term RSS, and note the results. Then with someone else try "webfeed." See if it makes a difference.
- Amy Gahran
Editor, CONTENTIOUS
Posted by: Amy Gahran | 05/04/2004 at 11:12 AM
Amy - Thanks for the excellent feedback. I updated the post to correctly reflect your contest. I am also an RSS evangelist...it's why I moved from Blogger to Typepad.
Posted by: Kevin Dugan | 05/04/2004 at 11:34 AM