Over at Kill Ten Rats, Ravious talks a bit about unsubbing from a blog and what it takes to get people to go away from following various writings on the intenret. I peered intently at this article, and the comments that followed it, not just because the subject was interesting and caught my eye, but because I have a real problem. I know, right – the great optimist having an issue is unheard of – but trust me, this is serious business.
My name is Frank, and I’m addicted to RSS.
Ravious seems to find it easy to unsub from a blog, whether it’s due to change in subject or resonance. I can’t seem to do it. Of the 246 rss feeds I’m currently subscribed to, I think I might have only unsubbed from 1 of them, and I think it was mine because I was changing over to Feedburner. Maybe I need help. But hear me out – I kinda like it this way, ok?
The first logical question is how I am able to keep up with the hundreds if not thousands of articles that arrive every day. For one thing, I think I’m finally able to put my BA in English to work for more than just being the butt of jokes about working at McDonald’s. I’m able to quickly scan, digest, and read content. Sure, it’s a challenge sometimes and I tend to miss the articles that my bloggery friends really, really want to read (“what do you MEAN you missed my article on donating to the Buy A Cute Puppy Fund ._.”), but I get a nice little global snapshot of what’s going on regardless.
The second reason is that I simply like enriching my own viewpoint with others’, no matter if I disagree with them or not. The sheer variety of missives that exist on the internet is seemingly limitless, from crazy life stories to serious analyses and more. And I’m subbed to just about all of them. How can I abandon any of them, even the long-dead ones? You never know – they might just come back and post, and with my luck it would be on a day when I’m dealing with something more important like cleaning up cat poop or trying to kill zombies.
I guess it’s really a matter of a little blind loyalty. I like seeing what people have to say, no matter ho often they say it. When I add someone or something to my blogroll, I do it for a reason. Most of the time that reason comes from a genuine desire to be entertained, and the things I subscribe to do that for me. While I can generate plenty of sunshine on my own, it’s always a nice boost to get it from others – and why not RSS?
I love my RSS subscribers. They are very active, and my Reach numbers are always higher than my subscribers which means all my subscribers are actually reading my content.
I also think RSS has its downfalls. The longer your blog has been around the higher your numbers are. Even if you are sporting 763 subscribers it may really mean only 32 currently read your content. Most people don't bother unsubscribing, but they also stop using their RSS reader.
I find just visiting blogs on my blogroll is the best. I find with RSS that I end up scrolling through alot of posts without reading them just to clear my unread articles. I also love to comment so its just easier to visit the blog without an extra step. Also if I have my favorite blogs on my blogroll I can see snippets, and know what to skip over, and what I want to read. My RSS reader doesn't do it.
Also their is no interactivity with your RSS subscribers. I feel much closer to the people I interact with on Twitter on a daily basis. Also I am pretty connected to all the WAR bloggers and players that participate in Mykiels Webcast every Friday night. It is about building relationships, and Twitter is great for that.
"Still, I unsubscribed with a heavy heart."
…Is not easy. I have so many inactive blogs that I hope return. The blog in question though… I knew it was time. It had gone too far out of control.