The Best Way to Educate Readers About RSS

Dec 19, 2007 by Matt | Posted in Blogging 2 Comments

I’ve found that the best way to teach blog readers about RSS is to link to a great video I found.

RSS in Plain English does a great job at explaining RSS in a simple, visual manner. The whole thing is done on a whiteboard, with a voiceover and pre-made bits of paper.

The video has everything someone needs to know to understand RSS, and get started using it. CommonCraft.com (the maker of the video) recommends Google Reader, and provides instructions on creating an account and adding feeds, though the video also shows URLs for alternatives.

It’s a great video, and I think Lee LeFever really found the best metaphor to describe RSS: It’s like Netflix, for the web. Instead of going and looking for content (e.g. going to Blockbuster) the content comes to you.

  • http://buildingtheergonomicguitar.com Robert Irizarry

    I couldn’t agree more, Matt. Commoncraft’s video is easy to understand and on the mark.

    Educating readers about RSS is a great idea and particularly valuable for us who aren’t in techie or SEO related niches. And so, I created a What is RSS page and listed it under my subscription options for easy reference.

  • http://www.webmaster-source.com Matt

    Nice “What is RSS” page. Mine isn’t too great, and I keep putting off updating it. :D

    Commoncraft has done more than just this video (all of which use the same “Whiteboard” approach). My favorites are RSS in Plain English and the new Blogs in Plain English.