RSS versus Email
I just finished reading the article about web feeds being a better means of campaign communication rather than email newsletters. I think that Gahran brings up a lot of good points specifically relating the campaigns not being about to get emails to subscribers due to Spam filters. As someone who has subscribed to email newsletters and not been able to get them due to Spam filters, I can definitely see how a feed would work better.
The one argument that I would make against the usefulness of feeds is that this technology isn't in wide enough use to be effective in getting the message out. While I anticipate that many more people will learn about and use feeds within the next few years, making sure this is effective will be completely dependent on the user having this technology set up. It will definitely take a few more election cycles before campaigns can completely stop using email newsletters in favor of using feeds.
1 Comments:
Thanks for mentioning my work. I guess you're involved in some sort of group blogging project, I've seen several related posts today.
You're right -- feeds are not yet as commonplace as e-mail or web browsing.
It might be a good idea for political types (or anyone who uses the net for outreach) to embark proactively on an education effort, to get people to learn how to use feeds. That's one of the main reasons I wrote my tutorial.
Maybe offer a community workshop, etc. Nudge people along. Help them find the simplest tools (feed readers or services) and show them how to use them.
- Amy Gahran
Editor, CONTENTIOUS
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