Recently on a discussion forum of bloggers a rather heated discussion ensued about whether RSS feeds should send the full post or just the first few lines. It wasn’t something I’d given much thought to and had never considered it was a subject that could generate much passion.I began wondering if the passion was unique to bloggers or if readers of blogs felt equally passionate. To find out a posted a question to the “Answers” section of LinkedIn. I was amazed. Readers of blogs were just as passionate – if not more so – than bloggers.
The results of survey showed 74 percent feel very strongly that RSS feeds should include the entire post. They don’t want to click through to the site; they want to read everything in their feed readers.
Nineteen percent felt equally strongly that they want a summary or the first few lines of the post. This allows them to scan their reader to see if a particular post is of interest. If it is then they’ll click through. One responded subscribes to 450 feeds and needs to have this summary.
None of the respondents were on the fence. Everyone felt strongly. Some even stated that if a blog they read offers the wrong type of feed they’d unsubscribe. Wow. What’s a poor blogger to do?
I did get a few respondents tell me it is possible to include both options for subscribers. I will certainly look into this and once I figure it out I’ll be offering a choice to subscribers.
In the meantime, I’d like to do a poll of my RSS subscribers. If you feel strongly one way or another, please leave a comment. I’m willing to go majority rules until I can start pleasing everyone by offering both.
Andrea J. Stenberg
