« BlogOn Webcasts | Main | Check Out the BlogOn Bootcamp Blog »
Why is RSS relevant?
We'll explore the relevance of RSS with some of the people we interivew at the BlogOn webcasts. Here's something I wrote for my e-mail newsletter. How do relevance and circumstances converge to create changes in our culture? How does this apply to social media? I look forward to hearing what the perspective is of the people we interview over the next two days.
Why is RSS relevant?
I had lunch yesterday with Louis Moynihan and Robert Mendez of NetHawk, an interactive agency that is seeing a bit of change as advertising, search and RSS converge. For an advertising guy, Robert seems to really understand the whole concept of the semantic web and how it relates to his business. They're experimenting with RSS market syndication services as a better way for companies to get high search engine rankings but equally important, deliver relevant content. They're not offering paid search but instead, taking advantage of RSS and the information they can aggregate to get high search engine rankings for their clients with information that is relevant and robust for the individual who is seeking some new understanding and insight.
But as Robert and Louis explain, that's hard to do when the client is not invested in the content. They need to feel like the content is relevant. And that's the challenge with RSS. How do you make it relevant? How can you show the connection between RSS and the content they value most?
To hear this discussion from an advertising guy is heartening. But it comes from a guy who like many with this perspective, spent their formative years absorbing the unfolding events of the 1960s and 1970s. There's a comparison to today's events. People are engaging in the political process. In today's world, we see political events unfold and seek relevant information to make sense of what is happening. To illustrate, Robert said he stopped listening to commercial radio about 20 years ago. "Radio used to be great," Robert said. "But now half the time it is advertising." Increasingly, advertising is spreading across the web. Pages seemingly melt away for a video ad about breath mints.
This paid advertising is professionally developed content, which has far less value for people than the blogs people write, talking about what matters most. It is this information that is relevant. And RSS brings it forward for people to absorb.
I look forward to BlogOn so I can explore this issue of relevance with the smart group of people assembled at the event. I hope you can listen in to the discussion. It should be interesting.
Posted by AlexWilliams at 12:07 PM on July 22, 2004
Comments
Hello all
Posted by: Hydrocodone ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.blogonevent.com/blogon2004/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 21, 2006 06:35 AM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)