Thing 4: RSS

So, RSS is a Web 2.0 solution to a Web 2.0 problem? We can use RSS to ignore imagery, etc - but Web 2.0 is so image/visual heavy. Web 2.0 is that kind of situation, though. The technologies are useful when they fulfill a purpose yet are quickly cumbersome and time-consuming when they are incorporated just the sake a being new technology.

I tried out Google Reader as an aggregator and it seems very user friendly after spending just a few minutes with it. I added NEFLIN's blah blah blah blog; a news package; marketplace.org's feed; and cnet.com's feed. I searched for a blog on technology in libraries and encountered an older feed from the ALA. There was a link to the new blog; but it was odd having a feed come back high in the results that had not had a new post in about 9 months. It seems it would be productive to have older blogs/feeds weeded out of the results or placed lower in the results.

RSS feeds seem like a really great way to get to the point and also stay up to date without really trying. I think RSS could have the same impact on my personal life as my professional life: Keeping up to date with the latest information, across a variety of subjects, in a very time-friendly manner. RSS reminds me of a listserv - you get very up to date information and communication on a topic of interest to you. The biggest difference I can see at the moment is that the exchange of information on a listserv is often more accessible and on-target (e.g. responses to an emailed question are in a new email and as easily and accessibly received as any email). A blog might get some good comments; but the percentage of "good" comments seems lower.

If you find a good, on-target blog, I think RSS would be a fantastic tool for keeping up with that blog. As for overall information, I think I would continue my usual methods for searching for information. It seems very similar to what Google Reader is doing: Providing results/lists for me to glance at and determine what might be useful. I feel you could quickly go overboard, though. It seems one of the best lessons we can learn from Web 2.0 (as Web 2.0 increasingly makes our lives more information-packed) is that moderation is key, moderation determined by taking a step back and asking, "Will this fulfill a purpose? Or is it just cool because it's new?"