Last week I asked people why they weren't using RSS yet? I got a bunch of e-mails (although I'd hoped people would post in the comments so we could all talk about it) and mostly the reaction was "haven't been convinced it's worth the effort to figure out what it is." So, obviously RSS needs some help on the PR front.

One thing I've heard from a few people here and there, is the same thing Eric Richardson posted today. He says:

I don't like viewing a site via an RSS reader. To me it seems that by taking the content out of the confines of the site, and presenting it in isolation, you cut out a large part of the experience. When I put together my site, I don't just think just of the content but also the presentation. I like the way my site looks. I intend that look to in some possibly imperceptible way to alter how you experience the information that I provide. Sure, if you pull my RSS feed into a reader you'll get the things I write. But they'll be orphaned, severed from the contextualization of the environment in which I have placed them.

That's definitely a good point. Not one I agree with, but a good point none the less. I know, it's blasphemy for a designer to say something like that but here's my rebutal.

I've never met a person who redesigned their website every day. I've also never read a site that didn't mention the redesign it just got. 99% of the time, to get an RSS feed you have to go to the site. So, you go to the site, you see the design, you know what it looks like, tomorrow, the only thing that is going to change is the content, the design will be the same as it was yesterday. So, why do you need to see the design again? Sure, if it's the most amazing design you've ever seen you'll be rushing back to see just the design, regardless of content updates or not. But chances are, it's not the best thing you've ever seen, cool maybe. So, back to the point, you know what the site looks like because you saw it yesterday, so tomorrow, unless you have a really bad memory, you are only curious about what else that person has to say. Why do you have to see their design again?

And, if they redesign the site, they are going to mention it, so then I get to go back and see it. Plus, unless the person doesn't have much to say, I generally see everyone's page at least once a week. I follow a link, click an extended entry or something. I just don't see it for every single post.

I'll even argue that people will see you designs MORE with RSS for this reason: When I come across a site I like, I look for an RSS feed to subscribe to right away. If they don't have one, then I have to bookmark it, and since I have a zillion bookmarks, unless it was super amazing, chances are I'll forget about it and not go back until months later when I say "what the hell is this bookmark? OH Yeah!" where as with the RSS, I know about every update, and I'm probably back on the full site in a few days.

But that's just my take. I still want to know why YOU aren't using RSS. Hmmm?