Some Random Dude has an interesting post (found via Pearsonified) about the new RSS feed icon. The gist is that, depending on whom you ask, most people think it represents audio, volume, radio, or WiFi. None of these is RSS!! I have to admit that I thought it represented broadcast, hence probably radio. I don't dislike the icon; I just don't think it makes me think of content headlines. But that doesn't mean I have anything constructive to offer as an alternative. Except that I actually preferred the older logo that simply used the letters R,S,S. However, with a move away from the acronym RSS to a more generic, less threatening term such as webfeeds, that's not going to work.

So the question is, do we stick with the icon that's being used in a number of places (such as the Firefox browser) or pick something else? I vote with staying with the new icon not only because it would be confusing to change, but some credibility may be lost if feed evangelists cannot even settle on an icon, let alone a format. What we can all do, of course, is to promote the icon, along with a visible headline such as "What is RSS? What are web feeds?", possibly set off in a prominent graphic box.

I repeat this clarion call every once in a while, at the risk of redundancy, because unlike HTML and the Internet in general, the popular media isn't really running articles or newsclips about web feeds. So the more often we all push RSS and educate site visitors in regards to its use and benefits, the sooner it'll become a widely adopted technology.

That said, I had an interesting discussion with someone today regarding all the bad news we typically absorb via regular media, particularly newspapers. He asked me, what if you didn't have to read all the details if you didn't want to, and could just get the gist of a set of articles? I then asked him whether he'd heard of RSS. He hadn't, but he admitted to being able to get "headlines" in his browser, after clicking on a "add to my favourites" button on a news site he frequents. I told him that he is probably using RSS and didn't realize it. To him, though, it didn't matter. What mattered was that he was able to get his headlines daily.

>> Raj Kumar Dash, http://www.chameleonintegration.com/

Technorati Tags: rsscases, rss cases, rss feeds, web feeds, the indie virus