Twitter vs. RSS Feeds
It’s no surprise by now that most of you know that Twitter allows users to stay connected with friends and family, to reach out to long lost loves, and meet up with new people that share similar interests. It is also a great way to stay up to date on current events and keeps you aware of what your favorite companies are doing.
In some cases, blog readers have even opted out of the RSS subscriptions in favor of Twitter.
So, what’s this all about? Is one really better than the other? Here’s a quick look at the differences between Twitter and RSS feeds.
Networking
When it comes to networking, Twitter is king and RSS has no fire. Twitter allows you to share links among your followers and vice versa. Since you and your followers are probably like-minded, this makes perfect sense and allows you to discuss immediately as well. With the RSS feed, there is no networking option. You can simply subscribe to what you want to hear about but cannot share anything you receive.
Link Organization
With an RSS feed, all the links are organized. It’s your list and you can organize it anyway you like. Links on Twitter seem to be thrown at you from any direction, which can get quite confusing. There is no organization, so it is easy to miss something if you’re not constantly checking your stream. If you happen to miss several days, you can open your feed reader and still figure out what’s new and hasn’t been read.
Immediacy of Information
With Twitter, access to information is practically immediate. When bloggers publish a post, they usually immediately post it on Twitter which means you get information quickly. If you like to stay on top of news and information, Twitter is ideal. RSS feed readers are not as immediate. Feeds are typically updated every couple of hours.
Interactions
Twitter is a social networking site, which means that the information you receive via this platform is generally provided by like-minded people. There is nothing social about an RSS feed reader. Twitter allows you to share the knowledge which benefits sender and receiver. With the RSS feed, it’s just you.
Consistency
RSS feed readers have been around for quite a while so the consistency and uptime is not an issue. Since Twitter is still relatively new (comparatively speaking) , there are some kinks to work out. In fact, there are plenty of times each day where we see that Twitter is down or inaccessible. Consistency is key when you rely on a particular source for news or updates.
Spam
Since its inception, Twitter has become quite a marketing tool which means you are subject to receiving a good amount of spam. Because RSS feed readers are not a marketing tool you will not receive spam through your reader. The only information you receive via RSS is what you have asked for. This is not the case with Twitter.
While there are definite pros and cons to both Twitter and RSS feed readers, the choice is ultimately yours based on what is more important to you. If you want immediate information and a social environment, Twitter may be your best bet. However, if you prefer very little spam and reliability, RSS may be the way to go. Personally I think both have great value and both should be each used in there respected content.
4 Responses to “Twitter vs. RSS Feeds”
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by .::Michael Duvall::. and MashMoz, WebDoctus Blog. WebDoctus Blog said: Twitter vs. RSS Feeds http://url4.eu/u5Bq [...]
Very interesting angle, Rss vs Twitter, I use them hand in hand in many cases, but it is good to see the pros and cons laid out for me.
Interesting that I found this post on Twitter, not an RSS feed. I often resolve to start watching RSS feeds, but somehow they sit in the background while I look at Twitter several times every day.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by michael_duvall: Twitter vs. RSS Feeds http://bit.ly/731Cad…