As I start to use Twitter more and more I have noticed something that got me thinking. As a web designer/developper/blogger, I try to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of the internet. My biggest leap came a few months ago when I hitched a ride on the train to Tweet Town. I signed up for Twitter obviously knowing what it was. What I didn’t know was the potential that lies therein.

Twitter creates duplicate content

I am constantly reading articles and posts online from other bloggers and site owners sharing their expertise (and lack thereof on occasion). I have my favorite sites that I subscribe to via RSS and am always on the lookout for new source of information. As I begin becoming a regular Twit, I find myself following all these same individuals, and more, on Twitter. And there’s the rub. Most bloggers (myself included) obviously use Twitter to reach a larger audience to promote their posts. If I subscribe to a blog’s RSS feed and follower that author on Twitter, I get the feed in my Mozilla Thunderbird and I see the tweet on Twitter about the post: double whammy. As I noticed this, I wondered:

“Do I really need to subscribe to a feed and follow the author?”

The end of RSS is near

I started thinking about this more when a thought popped into my head:

Will Twitter bring about the end of RSS feeds?

Maybe not now, maybe not in the near future, but maybe in the not-so-distant future I think the possibility is there. Just the same as the internet has brought about the end of print edition newspapers, the same could end up happening for RSS feeds.

Why keep RSS?

While the end of RSS may be inevitable, I currently have a need to use both. For instance, I work for a major internet software company who has a pretty strict “public web site” policy. Under this policy, all social networking sites are blocked, including Twitter. This means that for those authors who publish posts in the morning, I can’t see their Tweets stating this. Thus the necessity of the RSS feed for me.

When in Rome…do as the Twitterers do

However, when I am at home, I am following along on Twitter. I have yet to download or try out any of the numerous apps out there for following your twitter account and making reading/tweeting easier, but I plan to. The advantage to Twitter is obviously that I get to see posts and ReTweets from users sharing others’ interesting information and articles, without actually having to repost the whole article.

As a source of information sharing, Twitter exceeds RSS by leaps and bounds, there’s no doubt about it. However, with the convenience (at least for some like me) of RSS still proves worthy. Time will tell, but I think Biz may be digging a shallow grave somewhere.

What do you think? Will Twitter be the end of RSS? Leave your comments below and vote.

Will Twitter be the end of RSS Feeds?

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