Pew Internet & American Life Project May 4-June 7, 2005[PDF] survey finds that most folks simply have no idea what RSS feeds are, or what the term means. They did a survey in which internet terms were presented and then people were asked to respond whether they had a good idea what the term was, weren’t really sure what the term was, or had never heard the term. The breakdown:
- 9% of people have a good idea of what RSS is
- 65% of people not really sure what RSS is
- 26% of people have never heard the term RSS
Nine percent isn’t very good. Even though half of all bloggers are women (and I think women stand to make the most gains from reading and writing blogs) the disparity between men’s knowledge of these technical terms and women’s is unfortuante.
Not for one moment am I suggesting we abandon the term, though I believe in a short time RSS will become virtually invisible in the background. What I am suggesting is that if you don’t help your blog visitors understand what they’re dealing with, you’re doing them a disservice and you’re hurting your own chances for blog success in the long run.
So explain. Or find a good link that explains.
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