Demystifying RSS

RSS, which is an acronym for "Really Simple Syndication," is a huge time saver for people who want to receive updates from their favorite websites whenever new content is published.

How does RSS work? Let's say that there are five websites you follow regularly. In the old days before RSS existed, the only way to know if those sites posted new content was to link to each one individually and visually scan the pages for something new. Not a very efficient use of time, especially when there was no new content to see.

With RSS, you no longer have to go out on the Web to see what's new on your favorite sites – an RSS feed will automatically do that work for you and then alert you whenever new content is posted.

The convenience of RSS is available on any site that displays this icon:

One of the weaknesses of RSS is that there is no single method or "one-click" procedure to subscribe to feeds. In general, here are two popular options:

• On a website or blog with a feed, find the RSS icon or button, right click, copy the link location, and paste the URL into your RSS feed reader, or
• Find the button for the RSS Feed Reader of your choice, click and follow the instructions

A third option is to set up an RSS feed from within Microsoft Outlook. Here's how:

1. On the Tools menu of Microsoft Outlook 2007, click Account Settings.
2. On the RSS Feeds tab, click New.
3. From your Web browser, select the full URL of the site you wish to subscribe to and press CTRL+C to copy
4. In the New RSS Feed dialog box (in Outlook), press CTRL+V to paste the URL of the RSS Feed
5. Click Add, Click OK

For more on the basics of how RSS works, check out the following video:

RSS in Plain English

Additional resources:

Add an RSS Feed

RSS Tutorial

Basic Introduction to RSS Feeds and Aggregators for Non-Technical People

The Art of the Online Interview

Do you know everything there is to know about all things? Or even everything about your own areas of expertise?

If you author a blog, forum or other type of content for the Web – and your answer is a modest "No" – then the ability to develop and publish online interviews can be a tremendous asset to both you and your readers.

Not only is Web 2.0 all about the conversational attributes of the Internet, readers generally appreciate the availability of diverse insights and perspectives on the topics they're interested in following. Plus, as a writer/content developer, engaging with smart people who are passionate and knowledgeable about their topic is rewarding on multiple levels. Finally, for subject experts interested in sharing their insights, participating in an online interview is a great way to reach a larger audience on new sites.

Online interviews, in other words, are a win/win for all. Here are my suggestions for how to proceed:

Approach

• Introduce yourself, your role and the opportunity at hand
• Set clear expectations for how the interview will be conducted and used
  • Where it will be published? When?
  • Address any questions or concerns the interviewee may have to their satisfaction
• Describe the interview process: Once an interviewee agrees to participate in online interview, the basic process consists of the following three steps:
  • You propose a set of interview questions and send them to the interviewee via email
  • They respond to the questions and send the responses back to you via email
  • You edit for typos, format and publish the final interview as agreed
• Provide the interviewee with clear information about how to contact you

Preparation

• Begin by asking yourself: "What is the purpose of this interview?" Your answer to that question will help guide and inform the types of questions you ask
• Be prepared: Do whatever homework is necessary to ask the best possible questions
• Structure the interview with a set of 4-5 questions (too many more than that can be burdensome, fewer can make for too short an interview)
• Think in terms of "What," "Why" and "How" to develop the interview questions
• Questions should be phrased in an open-ended manner whenever possible (rather than ones that invite a yes or no answer)
• The primary purpose of interview questions is to set the stage and provide easy openings for the interviewee to expand on the overall topic of the interview. If any of the proposed questions are off topic or awkward in any way, let the interviewee know that you are willing to edit the proposed questions – or ask different questions – if he or she prefers
• Encourage the interviewee to provide URL links to sources for additional information, if appropriate
• Ask for any supplemental content you may need (i.e., photographs, illustrations, etc.) at the time you send the interview questions
• The last question should encourage the respondent to provide any additional insights or information they wish to add: "Is there anything else one should know about this topic?"

Execution

• If you are confused or unclear by any of the responses you receive, ask for clarification
• Trust and integrity are essential: If the interviewee requests that you consider any portion of the content provided as "off the record," always honor such requests
• Check any linked URLs for accuracy before publishing
• Format photographs, illustrations and other graphic files as necessary to fit the parameters of your site
• Proofread all content once again after formatting and before hitting the "Publish" button
• Remember to thank the interviewee for their time and thoughtful insights

Happy interviewing… If you have additional tips to share on this topic, please post a Comment.

The Successful Blogger

How does one go about creating a successful blog? Here are five basic recommendations:

1. Establish a Clear Objective

What is the general theme or topic you plan to blog about? This consideration may seem obvious, but thinking it through before launching a new blog is an important first step. Developing an outline of topics you'd like to cover can be helpful in narrowing your focus as well as building an initial pipeline of ideas to draw from down the road.

2. Be Consistent

New posts keep subscribers coming back, and they add juice to search engine indexes. Frequency recommendation: weekly is optimal. Every other week is OK. More often than that is hard to sustain (for author and reader alike) and a lesser frequency tends to lose traction.

3. Keep it Simple

As every writer knows, the space between staring at a blank screen and finding the groove that begins with the first few keystrokes can be daunting at times. The good news is that you're blogging, not writing the next great novel. Keep your blog posts simple, single-topic focused and not too lengthy and your readers are likely to appreciate your communication style. Plus, writing blog posts is apt to become as natural as tapping out email messages -- a skill you've long ago mastered completely.

4. Think Links

Building inbound links is a priority for most bloggers, and for good reason. They drive click-through traffic from other blogs, they increase your exposure around the blogosphere, and they help to boost your search engine rankings. Getting a few links from respected blogs can help with search engine traffic, but the added credibility that you get can be just as important, especially for newer bloggers.

5. Have Patience

New blogs generally take months, if not longer, before they gain enough juice to produce any significant search engine-generated traffic. Building a blog that is search engine-friendly is critical if you want to maximize search traffic. In addition, although posting needs to be consistent to keep traffic levels as high as possible, that doesn't mean that traffic levels will always be consistent. Every blog has ups and downs – be sure that you enjoy the times when traffic is high, and don't obsess over the numbers during slower times.

Post with Care

Do you assume that some areas of cyberspace are more private than others?

Surely you're aware that email messages can live well beyond their intended life – or audience – but what about social media sites where you can take comfort in being able to screen friend requests and have a say in who gets to participate in your online universe?

Well, don't get too comfortable.

And don't assume that what you intend as private online communication between yourself and select others is any more "safe" than an ordinary email message.

This is the digital world after all. Check out http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/23/privacy-disaster-at-twitter-direct-messages-exposed/ for the story about a hapless Twitter user with 650 followers who had the embarrassing experience of seeing her very private direct messages show up in her normal Twitter stream for the whole wide world to read. The problem was eventually traced back to a flaw with a third-party Twitter application but, nonetheless, damage done.

Another blogger describes his experience with Tweetbeep, a service that sends you an email alert (similar to a Google Alert) when a tweet is posted anywhere on Twitter that contains whatever keywords you specify. In this case, the blogger was able to see private content aggregated through Twitter's API that users thought was protected. "I was surprised to see that their Twitter page said their updates were protected and I had to submit a request to the user to follow them. I couldn't see the updates, but somehow tweetbeep was able to? That must mean there is a loophole… it is only a matter of time before websites start popping up that will allow you to read a Twitter user's private tweet time line." The full story is at http://www.thorschrock.com/2008/11/02/tweetbeep-can-see-through-twitter-privacy-protection/.

Does what happen in Facebook stay in Facebook? Check out: http://www.albumoftheday.com/facebook/. For further reading, try Your Privacy Is An Illusion: Why Facebook Employees are Profiling Users

What's a social media-savvy person to do?

My recommendation is to exercise the same discretion and good judgment online as you do in other parts of your personal and professional life.

Finally, remind yourself that "Once I hit the Enter key, I will have zero control over the future of this communication." If there's no inner voice urging caution regarding that which you're about to send, you should be just fine.

The Future of Engagement

I presented a Social Media 101 workshop for a group of Synopsys colleagues on Friday. The attendees were terrific: engaged, attentive, inquisitive – everything one hopes for when standing in front of a room to share insights and knowledge with others.

So when I received a link from my manager later that day to a blog post titled How to Present While People are Twittering, I stopped to read it right away (thanks Karen!).

Presenting while your audience is twittering – what a dismal thought. It's bad enough when a dining companion starts thumbing a Blackberry during table conversation or you find yourself in a conference room where various others have more important things to do online than fully participate in the meeting at hand. But presenting to a roomful of people who are busy twittering while you're trying to make a little eye contact and stay focused on delivering your personal best as you fulfill your objectives and obligations as a speaker? Not so much.

Yet Tamar Weinberg (the blog's author) suggests multiple benefits of such emerging Twitter behavior for audience and speaker alike. Referring to Twitter interaction as a "back channel" for the audience, she says, "There are huge benefits to the individual members of the audience and to the overall output of a conference or meeting." Tamar's list includes 1) Twitter helps audience members focus, 2) the audience gets more content, 3) audience members can get questions answered on the fly, and 4) the audience can innovate as well as participate.

What about the speaker? Tamar says, "We're used to having eye contact with our audience and using that eye contact and audience reaction to measure how well we're engaging the audience. Now when you say something brilliant, instead of nods of appreciation, there will be a flurry of tapping. Here's the positive spin… the typing means you're provoking interest, your colleagues can answer questions for you, you'll get immediate feedback, and they won't fall asleep."

To be fair, Tamar's blog focuses on conference environments where audience size is often orders of magnitude beyond that of a training workshop. But who's to say how human conduct will continue to morph and evolve through time? If twittering tweets in a room full of a thousand people is the hot new trend, what about a roomful of 100, or 20? There are already those who are perfectly comfortable interacting in cyberspace at a table for two, so what forms of interconnected conduct will we find professionally (or personally) acceptable in future years?

What do you think?