RSS and Social Bookmarking

     Before I get to the topic of this week’s blog, I want to share my other assignment for the week. I was tasked with creating a 960x200 pixel banner. I used canva.com and was able to create a new banner for my work website.

 

As far as our primary topics, this week we focused on RSS and Social Bookmarking.

According to Tyler Lacoma in his 2021 article: What is an RSS Feed, RSS stands for “rich site summary” or “straightforward syndication;” it is an easy way to compile information from your favorite websites and news sources so you don’t have to waste time searching various places for new information. RSS feeds have been replaced in most areas of the internet; the primary sources of updates are now Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites. Google doesn’t like to support RSS feeds anymore because it is a relatively outdated tool (Lacoma, 2021).

That being said, there are still a number of quality feed readers for those who want to simplify and consolidate their internet use. It allows the user to stay up to date on their favorite companies or news outlets, “without all the baggage that comes with having a Twitter or Facebook account” (Lacoma, 2021). There are even mobile apps that work as feed readers for on-the-go updates.

While RSS feeds are being phased out by some internet browsers, it is still a tool that can be useful in certain situations. One example would be if you were looking to purchase a table on craigslist. You could set up an RSS feed to notify you any time a new table listing was created. RSS can also be helpful to keep an eye on competitors’ websites without having to navigate to each one.

Another tool that can be very useful is social bookmarking. This is a website and browser add-on that allows you to “bookmark” web pages, add tags to those links, and search for them later on. The bookmarks can also be shared publicly or privately.

I thought of my dad the entire time I was reading about social bookmarking. He is 53, and very tech savvy for his age. But his tech experience is limited, in that, he gets comfortable with a system, and doesn’t look for a way to change it, unless it causes problems or there is a really good argument for him to try it. My dad is a master bookmarker; he has files and subfiles of bookmarks, he keeps Christmas gift ideas, where to find his favorite sneaker, and anything else he might need someday in the bookmarks. This system might work for him, but none of the rest of us (my mom, his office manager, me) can’t find anything we need in his digital hoard of bookmarks.

To use social bookmarking, you go to the website of your choice, create an account, and download the browser add-on. There are a few different social bookmarking sites available, but a couple of the original sites are gone now. Once you have the browser add-on, just click on it while visiting a page you want bookmarked. There will be a pop-up that gives you the option to name the bookmark and add tags to it for easy searching. Your coworkers or family can search tags to find sites that are relevant to their specific project or industry; that is where the social part comes into play. I’m looking forward to choosing a social bookmarking website and convincing my dad that it’s something he needs.

Liz


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