Have Feed Subscriber Counts Become Nothing More Than A Shallow Popularity Contest?
Ok call me a heretic if you will but I’ve only ever used a feed reader once or twice. I can understand that they are necessary if you have to keep up with a bazillion blogs everyday but I don’t. I read maybe 10-20 blogs daily and that’s it.
Why does it seem that everyone has the same chicklet on the blog showcasing their amount of subscribers? Is it even important? Who are these people that are subscribing to feeds? Are they experts or novices in the field of SEO/Entrepreneurship? Is a blog with 250 subscribers always more authorative than one with 25?
I’ve absolutely no idea to be honest. After I press “Publish” my blog might implode and disappear off into a spooky ghost world choc-a-bloc full of leprechaun types smoking Grade-C Irish hashish. Either way I’ll still be typing into a half empty text-box in Wordpress hoping that the next paragraph will be pure fucking gold….
I don’t think I’ll ever care much for people who subscribe to my feed and never visit the site. I love visiting websites on my blogroll individually and experiencing everything about them. I like seeing the layout of their blog and reading stuff about the blogger. It makes everything more intimate. That might sound incredibly pretentious (and it is) but I think you can miss out on so much if you simply subscribe to a feed.
If someone doesn’t have enough time to visit your site, either they are too busy or your branding isn’t strong enough. And if they are too busy, fuck them. What do you stand to lose? People come and they go I guess. I’d rather people actually felt something about my site. A “fuck you, you are full of shit” is much better than a “yeah he’s alright” in my eyes.
What I’m trying to say is that I hope that I provide enough on this website so that people want to visit it and experience something! Not purely through a feed reader What matters is that people contribute and respond in some way to my posts!
I’d rather have 5 active contributors than 5000 passive subscribers any day. And thankfully y’all contribute regularly (or at least you used to before this rant, heh).
Anyway, I had a bit of an off day today and created the Rosie O’Donnell Swing page. I’m experiencing a bit of a meltdown at the minute. Bare with me.
March 20th, 2007 on 2:38 pm
It’s funny you should mention that. I’ve been thinking the same thing lately. I actually tried to collect all my normal blogs into Google Reader, but it only lasted about a day. I definitely prefer reading a blog within its original design. It just adds so much more to the experience.
As far as posting feed count, I don’t know how I feel about it. It could just be the blog equivalent of ‘who has the most myspace friends’, but it also does add some credibility. Yes, a new blog with 25 subscribers could be equally or more credible than a blog with 2500 subscribers, but the more popular will still benefit from being just that.
So, while subscribers may not matter to you (*cough* feed ads *cough*), displaying a high feed count could help retain new visitors that will visit your actual blog.
March 20th, 2007 on 6:08 pm
Whoa, slow down there. Your totally missing the point of RSS subscriptions. Those of us who read your posts in a feed reader aren’t just passive subscribers.
I used to be just like you, preferring to read posts on the actual web site. In fact, I still do that quite frequently, but once you find yourself reading a hundred different blogs, a good feedreader is a huge timesaver. It also means I can be notified as soon as you make a post, rather than waiting until I happen to visit your site again. And I will still visit, for two reasons: When you make a post that I feel compelled to comment on, or when I want to see what comments others have left.
Don’t discount the importance of your subscribers. We’ve invited you onto our daily reading list.
March 20th, 2007 on 10:54 pm
Thanks for your comments.
Some good points to consider there.
I think maybe I was a little bit rash with this post and I can understand the benefits of subscribing to feeds that you outlined Kevin.
I’m kinda pissed at how the feedburner chicklets have almost become a toy on blogs. The general idea seems to be that the more subscribers you can rack up, the more successful a blog is perceived to be and I don’t think that’s necessarily true.
I think it’s more important to create a community based around people who are interested in what I write, whether they subscribe via feeds or read the blog.
Thanks again for your responses, both of you have added a lot to the discussion and given me a bit to think about!
March 20th, 2007 on 11:39 pm
The chicklets are getting more attention because there’s a meme going around, and that has a lot of people blogging about why they display their subscriber count. I rarely notice when it’s displayed, and it doesn’t influence whether or not I subscribe to a blog’s feed.
It can be an indicator of a blog’s success, but not necessarily it’s credibility. It’s more relevant than measures like “myspace friends” or “MyBlogLog community members” because there’s no concept of reciprocity, and the anonymous nature of it helps, too. If I get tired of reading your blog, I can unsubscribe and you’d be none the wiser, but if I removed you from my ‘friends’ list on some networking site you’d be able to see that.
What really matters are your readers, no matter how they access your content. The value in cultivating RSS subscribers is that they are likely to return in the future, so even if you don’t use a feedreader and don’t care about your subscriber count, it’s worthwhile to have a prominent subscription link on your pages.
March 21st, 2007 on 12:01 am
I couldn’t agree more with your final point. Can’t remember why I even took the Feed link out in the first place, heh.
March 21st, 2007 on 4:38 am
You’re somewhat right Matt. I don’t use RSS or somethin. I am a bookmarker. Why? because I don’t read many blogs. Just 10 or something (like you do). and I read your blog because its entertaining to read. Just update it regularly.
March 22nd, 2007 on 5:30 am
Feed is useful in terms of informing the reader of a new post being published. I’m a subscriber for a few blogs and I’m glad to be notified for new post and I will always go directly to the blog by clicking the link available in the feed email. There’s nothing wrong with that. Various people, various ways of accepting, reading, responding to the post/blogs. Let’s just hope we can produce good content that can glue active readers.
March 23rd, 2007 on 9:41 pm
I read quite a few blogs and so I use RSS to a large degree. However, the real question for me as a blogger is – is my readership RSS savvy? For certain subjects, readers understand and use RSS. For others, options like email are friendlier and more familiar. Personally, I lean toward the subscription email based on my observations of reader activities.
April 1st, 2007 on 4:53 pm
Well, I agree with both sides, I’ve never really been much into RSS feeds myself, but I put a Feedburner link on my blog this weekend, because I can see the value of it, however I’ve never really used a feed reader, but the more in depth I get into blogging and building websites, the more I keep thinking it would be a time saver, I try to absorb as much information as possible. Like an internet sponge eh? So I’d like to be able to read more with less effort. But on the same note I never really paid much attention to RSS feeds before this weekend. And as for whether I’ll come back, I always do. Although I may be a faceless feed subscriber if you put your link back up. I’m sure I’ll have to come back and get the full experience. I wouldn’t miss it
May 10th, 2007 on 8:31 pm
I bookmark my favourite blogs and have never used RSS feeds.
May 16th, 2007 on 8:12 pm
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