Over at Micro Persuasion, Steve Rubel is highlighting recent results from a Nielsen/Netratings study that points out that only one in ten blog readers use RSS. Steve posits that "Someone needs to figure out how to convey that the benefits of RSS are worth overcoming the learning curve."
Steve is correct in his thinking, and I'd also suggest that
there is a need to make the process for users much easier in terms of
finding, and setting up relevant feeds.
BlackInc is working with our client NewsGator to secure partnerships for them with media partners, and one of the big things we are discussing with potential partners, is their need and their ability to make RSS more user-friendly.
A first step in this process is discarding names like RSS and XML, which are clearly too "techy" for the average user, and have little, if any, meaning. Instead, presenting this functionality as "personalized headlines" or "customize your news experience", etc. will help make this more accessible to users.
Secondly, they can work to make the actual process of signing up for feeds less complex (making it more straightforward, easy to understand and simple to complete).
Lastly, they can help users sort through the thousands and thousands of possible feeds out there. By leveraging the editorial credibility they have established with their users, and their knowledge of specific topics (such as news, sports, etc.), they can offer suggestions as to which feeds users would most likely have interest in on any topic, and then make it easy for the users to sign up for these.
History has clearly demonstrated that if a technology (such as RSS) remains only something that tech-enthusiasts can make sense of, there is simply no way the adoption rate will grow very quickly, no matter how compelling the final experience provides to users.