A hot summer afternoon, the perfect time to examine RSS feeds one last time -- no interruptions, no need to hurry home in the heat, a time to relax.
I've now explored syndic8, feedstar, and topix.net. I know about Technorati. I have a Bloglines account and a Google Reader account. All of these tools are easy to navigate. I see the potential for libraries, for professors, for the ordinary soul on the street.
And for the most part -- I don't need any of them. I feel deluged with information already. Some of these tools provide me with such trivial information about sports and entertainment that I feel almost insulted. There's more to life than much of this stuff, and if I do want to know this stuff, I can head to Krogers and read the National Enquirer headlines. Or read People. Or read the daily newspaper.
As for library feeds? Just not interested.
Right now, for the sake of experiment, I'm getting a substantial number of RSS feeds. Eventually I'll cut them back to a bare minimum of feeds.
This should not be taken as a criticism of any of these tools. They serve many good uses, and I'm certainly glad to know they are out there, and that if I need them personally I can use them. I do not mind showing a library user how to use one of them. The knowledge of these RSS feeds is highly worthwhile. The RSS feeds can be of great value for others who seek out information for their needs. I can also see that there are a select few feeds that are useful to me personally and professionally. I just don't need such a glut of information, especially a glut of shallow information. I've enjoyed the RSS ride, and now I'm getting off.
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1 comment:
Yeah, the great promise of RSS is that information is delivered to you in a simple way. Yup, it's simple. So is a tidal wave. This blows up faster than an inbox. And just like that, you simply have to keep it contained. Like putting the Tazmanian Devil in a crate - but he always broke out ...
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