He isn’t the only one to ask me to link blog more of his content. Seems that when I link to people they get lots of hits. Maryam saw this effect too.
I’m wondering why this is so? After all, my link blog has the full content of almost anything I put on there.
My theories? You want to read the comments. Or, you want to write one. Or, you love the post so much you want to see what else that person has written. Or, maybe, you want to look at the beautiful design cause you can’t see that in your RSS reader or on my link blog.
So, what is it? Why do you click on links in my link blog?
Scobleizer 
Because if they produce that kind of stuff with one post then they probably have other good stuff as well!
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Because if they produce that kind of stuff with one post then they probably have other good stuff as well!
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HTML offers a richer representation than XML — links, comments, updates, layout.
Also offers continuity with the writer… you can get more context about what they wrote.
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HTML offers a richer representation than XML — links, comments, updates, layout.
Also offers continuity with the writer… you can get more context about what they wrote.
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“you want to write one [comment]. Or, you love the post so much you want to see what else that person has written”
bing-fucking-o
i used to send emails to my friends with items of interest, now we all just subscribe to each others link blog!
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“you want to write one [comment]. Or, you love the post so much you want to see what else that person has written”
bing-fucking-o
i used to send emails to my friends with items of interest, now we all just subscribe to each others link blog!
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One more thing to add, I changed the URL of my blog!
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One more thing to add, I changed the URL of my blog!
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I never click, I just read them.
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I never click, I just read them.
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Stefan: subscribed!
Josue: hmm, well SOMEONE is clicking! 🙂
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Stefan: subscribed!
Josue: hmm, well SOMEONE is clicking! 🙂
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Albert points out that ASP.net asked permission to syndicate his content.
You believe that permission is implied simply by providing an RSS feed.
Do yu know more about the law than Microsoft lawyers?
All I want is for publishers to have a choice, and by providing choice, it will benefit RSS.
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Albert points out that ASP.net asked permission to syndicate his content.
You believe that permission is implied simply by providing an RSS feed.
Do yu know more about the law than Microsoft lawyers?
All I want is for publishers to have a choice, and by providing choice, it will benefit RSS.
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Didn’t you just write a post not long ago about how you may have lost your power because you linked to someone that didn’t get that many hits from you…?
I believe I linked to that in September:
http://www.shakewellbeforeuse.com/2006/09/dominos_delivers_buzz_kill_mar.php
Scoble, you’re a fickle fish, I tell you.
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Didn’t you just write a post not long ago about how you may have lost your power because you linked to someone that didn’t get that many hits from you…?
I believe I linked to that in September:
http://www.shakewellbeforeuse.com/2006/09/dominos_delivers_buzz_kill_mar.php
Scoble, you’re a fickle fish, I tell you.
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Andy: publishers do have a choice. They can email me and ask for their feed not to be included in my link blog.
So far none have and quite a few have commented that they appreciate the increased traffic.
Ariel: maybe the trick is that my readers wanted my link blog to come back?
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Andy: publishers do have a choice. They can email me and ask for their feed not to be included in my link blog.
So far none have and quite a few have commented that they appreciate the increased traffic.
Ariel: maybe the trick is that my readers wanted my link blog to come back?
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Is there a list of people who have shared their Google Reader feeds? I’d love to subscribe to even more of them.
I love Scoble’s shared feed because it means I didn’t have to find and subscribe to such great content myself. Sure we have some overlap, but that’s fine.
I use Google Reader religiously on my BlackBerry. Anytime I have a spare moment, I keep scrolling through the various headlines for something interesting. The more headlines, the better!
I only wish Google didn’t limit it to 10 feeds on a page for mobile devices. Clicking more multiple times sucks. We need AJAX on mobile devices so we can get infinite scroll wheels like on Live.com (and lower data rates, of course) 🙂
What Robert is doing is fine. It’s not like he’s publishing every single post in a feed. If people love a certain feed, they’ll go subscribe to it.
Besides, how is this any different from Technorati or Google Blog Search other syndication engines? For example, I could subscribe to the “Andy Beal” RSS Feed from Google Blog Search and get every single one of his posts. I could even go further and say I only want posts from blogs with “Andy Beal” in the title. I could even say I want all posts from a specific blog and subscribe to those search results instead of the blog itself.
There’s no way of regulating where your blog can/cannot be syndicated. Such is the open nature of RSS. If you care so much about how many subscribers you have (and not so much about traffic), you should make your blog private.
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Is there a list of people who have shared their Google Reader feeds? I’d love to subscribe to even more of them.
I love Scoble’s shared feed because it means I didn’t have to find and subscribe to such great content myself. Sure we have some overlap, but that’s fine.
I use Google Reader religiously on my BlackBerry. Anytime I have a spare moment, I keep scrolling through the various headlines for something interesting. The more headlines, the better!
I only wish Google didn’t limit it to 10 feeds on a page for mobile devices. Clicking more multiple times sucks. We need AJAX on mobile devices so we can get infinite scroll wheels like on Live.com (and lower data rates, of course) 🙂
What Robert is doing is fine. It’s not like he’s publishing every single post in a feed. If people love a certain feed, they’ll go subscribe to it.
Besides, how is this any different from Technorati or Google Blog Search other syndication engines? For example, I could subscribe to the “Andy Beal” RSS Feed from Google Blog Search and get every single one of his posts. I could even go further and say I only want posts from blogs with “Andy Beal” in the title. I could even say I want all posts from a specific blog and subscribe to those search results instead of the blog itself.
There’s no way of regulating where your blog can/cannot be syndicated. Such is the open nature of RSS. If you care so much about how many subscribers you have (and not so much about traffic), you should make your blog private.
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Andy, take a look at this search result page:
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?as_q=&num=10&hl=en&ctz=300&c2coff=1&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_drrb=q&as_qdr=a&as_mind=1&as_minm=1&as_miny=2000&as_maxd=20&as_maxm=11&as_maxy=2006&lr=&safe=off&q=blogurl:http://andybeard.eu/&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d
I can get snippets of every single one of your posts without subscribing to your site. I can simply subscribe to the Google Blog Search result.
And I can do something similar on Technorati (but I have to select at least one keyword):
http://technorati.com/search/rss?from=http://andybeard.eu
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Andy, take a look at this search result page:
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?as_q=&num=10&hl=en&ctz=300&c2coff=1&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_drrb=q&as_qdr=a&as_mind=1&as_minm=1&as_miny=2000&as_maxd=20&as_maxm=11&as_maxy=2006&lr=&safe=off&q=blogurl:http://andybeard.eu/&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d
I can get snippets of every single one of your posts without subscribing to your site. I can simply subscribe to the Google Blog Search result.
And I can do something similar on Technorati (but I have to select at least one keyword):
http://technorati.com/search/rss?from=http://andybeard.eu
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Links have a purpose you know. 🙂
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@ Robert
From what you have said before, they also then don’t get read or linked to if they don’t allow sharing.
How very considerate.
People are scared to give out their email addresses to receive premium content, or have the inconvenience of having to visit sites to read what they pay for.
@ Anonymous
If I stick a blog behind RSS Authentication, Google and Technorati are not going to display that content… unless a reader shares it.
Also note that Google doesn’t show full content.
I choose to let Technorati collect my content (I could easily block them). I even notify them of updates. They don’t allow my full content to be shared or indexed on their site.
Please show me the 37Signals feeds that are currently indexed (the ones they supply for projects)
Google Reader doesn’t support RSS Authentication at this time, but Bloglines does. You can easily make a private feed from 37Signals public by mistake.
I am busy setting up a WordPress blog for potential investors to have access to research documents. It will be password protected.
I would love for them to be able to receive information by RSS, but it is not going to happen.
Thus I have to customise the WP installation such that they will receive daily notifications by email of changes. I can’t use RSS > email because no solution is secure.
All RSS related code is being ripped out.
That isn’t progress
RSS isn’t just about blogging. It isn’t just used for publishing your latest knitting pattern or gossiping about tech stuff.
It has been suggested that you would have to use DRM in some way to prevent or at least add a deterrant to sharing RSS.
How comes people don’t need a DRM solution for email?
How comes Google doesn’t provide a “River of Email” with easy hotkey sharing facilities?
(surely that would help you handle that 1000 email backlog Robert)
People have been sharing emails for years, especially things like jokes, but easy sharing facilities have never been implemented.
You can’t just hit a hotkey or tag an email “friends” to immediately share it with them (at least not with default configurations)
The reason is that a portion of the content you receive is private.
Easy sharing of RSS content is great (though potentially dangerous for copyright reasons) for bloggers, but actually restricts the growth of RSS in other directions.
It is my belief that if RSS could become a viable method for distributing private and premium content, then the adoption of RSS, especially for business will accelerate.
~ Podtech ~
Lets look at your own business and see how this relates to what Podtech are currently doing.
I am sure subscribers generate more page views per person than casual visitors, so it would be logical to offer some really juicy subscriber only content.
You don’t want to go to the trouble of using DRM. Copyright is effective enough to limit widespread distribution.
It would be fairly simple to setup a system where some content is only viewable for subscribers and members of your blog, and it can be delivered via RSS.
If that premium content is easily shared, it prevents you getting subscribers, which substantially reduces the value of advertising to your advertisers.
Advertising isn’t just about page views, but repeat views to the same person.
Subscribers are more likely to hear the same marketing message multiple times, and it is well known in advertising that people have to read, hear or see a message multiple times before it even registers, and even more times before they take action on it.
Having a way to offer premium content from Podtech, still for free, but only to subscribers could have a significant effect on your amount of subscribers, repeat views of content, and ultimately, your own success.
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Links have a purpose you know. 🙂
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@ Robert
From what you have said before, they also then don’t get read or linked to if they don’t allow sharing.
How very considerate.
People are scared to give out their email addresses to receive premium content, or have the inconvenience of having to visit sites to read what they pay for.
@ Anonymous
If I stick a blog behind RSS Authentication, Google and Technorati are not going to display that content… unless a reader shares it.
Also note that Google doesn’t show full content.
I choose to let Technorati collect my content (I could easily block them). I even notify them of updates. They don’t allow my full content to be shared or indexed on their site.
Please show me the 37Signals feeds that are currently indexed (the ones they supply for projects)
Google Reader doesn’t support RSS Authentication at this time, but Bloglines does. You can easily make a private feed from 37Signals public by mistake.
I am busy setting up a WordPress blog for potential investors to have access to research documents. It will be password protected.
I would love for them to be able to receive information by RSS, but it is not going to happen.
Thus I have to customise the WP installation such that they will receive daily notifications by email of changes. I can’t use RSS > email because no solution is secure.
All RSS related code is being ripped out.
That isn’t progress
RSS isn’t just about blogging. It isn’t just used for publishing your latest knitting pattern or gossiping about tech stuff.
It has been suggested that you would have to use DRM in some way to prevent or at least add a deterrant to sharing RSS.
How comes people don’t need a DRM solution for email?
How comes Google doesn’t provide a “River of Email” with easy hotkey sharing facilities?
(surely that would help you handle that 1000 email backlog Robert)
People have been sharing emails for years, especially things like jokes, but easy sharing facilities have never been implemented.
You can’t just hit a hotkey or tag an email “friends” to immediately share it with them (at least not with default configurations)
The reason is that a portion of the content you receive is private.
Easy sharing of RSS content is great (though potentially dangerous for copyright reasons) for bloggers, but actually restricts the growth of RSS in other directions.
It is my belief that if RSS could become a viable method for distributing private and premium content, then the adoption of RSS, especially for business will accelerate.
~ Podtech ~
Lets look at your own business and see how this relates to what Podtech are currently doing.
I am sure subscribers generate more page views per person than casual visitors, so it would be logical to offer some really juicy subscriber only content.
You don’t want to go to the trouble of using DRM. Copyright is effective enough to limit widespread distribution.
It would be fairly simple to setup a system where some content is only viewable for subscribers and members of your blog, and it can be delivered via RSS.
If that premium content is easily shared, it prevents you getting subscribers, which substantially reduces the value of advertising to your advertisers.
Advertising isn’t just about page views, but repeat views to the same person.
Subscribers are more likely to hear the same marketing message multiple times, and it is well known in advertising that people have to read, hear or see a message multiple times before it even registers, and even more times before they take action on it.
Having a way to offer premium content from Podtech, still for free, but only to subscribers could have a significant effect on your amount of subscribers, repeat views of content, and ultimately, your own success.
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Nah, it’s all about blogging, wikis and tech crap. I read that shit all day long, it’s part of my job. Try linking to something interesting that has content outside of your little incestuous circle – jerk and I’d think about it. That’s why, contrary to opinion, I don’t comment on ever post, or even most of them. It’s all just a bunch of the same crap over and over.
You want something *interesting* to read, with a high educational content? Here:
http://tdj.livejournal.com/
This dude talks about some rather hardcore science and biology issues, with just enough random to spice it up. Definitely more interesting and tons more fun than all the Web 2.0 and “River” handjobs.
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Nah, it’s all about blogging, wikis and tech crap. I read that shit all day long, it’s part of my job. Try linking to something interesting that has content outside of your little incestuous circle – jerk and I’d think about it. That’s why, contrary to opinion, I don’t comment on ever post, or even most of them. It’s all just a bunch of the same crap over and over.
You want something *interesting* to read, with a high educational content? Here:
http://tdj.livejournal.com/
This dude talks about some rather hardcore science and biology issues, with just enough random to spice it up. Definitely more interesting and tons more fun than all the Web 2.0 and “River” handjobs.
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Because someone suggested to me, when I wasn’t quite sure what direction my career should be going in, that I should read your blog as an ‘authority’ on things Online Media. That, and you’re a good read. Having said that, I click it because I’m still an amateur at all this online media stuff and I want to know what the ‘authorities’ are reading.
So I can build on my own blog.
I think that’s a good enough reason, don’t you?
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Because someone suggested to me, when I wasn’t quite sure what direction my career should be going in, that I should read your blog as an ‘authority’ on things Online Media. That, and you’re a good read. Having said that, I click it because I’m still an amateur at all this online media stuff and I want to know what the ‘authorities’ are reading.
So I can build on my own blog.
I think that’s a good enough reason, don’t you?
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If I see something great from your feeds, I assume that the post is with more great posts. Thus, I want to subscribe myself!
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If I see something great from your feeds, I assume that the post is with more great posts. Thus, I want to subscribe myself!
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I’ve been reading your blog for a while, and I switched to Google Reader around the same time. I started sharing stuff with my (small) audience right away. It’s just another nice and easy way to share things we find with others.
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I’ve been reading your blog for a while, and I switched to Google Reader around the same time. I started sharing stuff with my (small) audience right away. It’s just another nice and easy way to share things we find with others.
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Robert,
I definitely saw a spike in hits the three times you linked to The Blogging Journalist. The latest was on November 17. Thanks for the traffic.
Munir
Chicago, IL
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Robert,
I definitely saw a spike in hits the three times you linked to The Blogging Journalist. The latest was on November 17. Thanks for the traffic.
Munir
Chicago, IL
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John, nice site, agreed. Subscribed.
Got any more like that?
Andy: email is a private medium. It’s how I send stuff from my computer to yours. RSS, on the other hand, was originally used to send stuff from my computer to EVERYONE’S computer. The fact that you don’t like what I do with it once I get it means that we need DRM to make sure I don’t do something with it that you don’t want.
Seems to me a simple solution is to put a Creative Commons license inside each post with explicit instructions not to republish on any site.
>From what you have said before, they also then don’t get read or linked to if they don’t allow sharing.
Why do you believe the world owes you links or readers? I hate entitlement.
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John, nice site, agreed. Subscribed.
Got any more like that?
Andy: email is a private medium. It’s how I send stuff from my computer to yours. RSS, on the other hand, was originally used to send stuff from my computer to EVERYONE’S computer. The fact that you don’t like what I do with it once I get it means that we need DRM to make sure I don’t do something with it that you don’t want.
Seems to me a simple solution is to put a Creative Commons license inside each post with explicit instructions not to republish on any site.
>From what you have said before, they also then don’t get read or linked to if they don’t allow sharing.
Why do you believe the world owes you links or readers? I hate entitlement.
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Sure, here’s one I found from TDJ’s journal:
http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/
Not as focused, but I find it quite interesting.
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Sure, here’s one I found from TDJ’s journal:
http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/
Not as focused, but I find it quite interesting.
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I second Stephan. I click through all the time when I want to share the link because:
1. Most of my friends are hip enough yet to use Google reader and see my shared items.
2. Very often, I want to share it with someone in particular.
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I second Stephan. I click through all the time when I want to share the link because:
1. Most of my friends are hip enough yet to use Google reader and see my shared items.
2. Very often, I want to share it with someone in particular.
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