RSS Leadership by Example
Large, top notch companies far removed from the tech sector now offer RSS feeds, a most welcome development. They use RSS mainly for news feeds, and although many of us are more interested in RSS for blogs, anything that popularizes the technology helps the blogging cause, don’t you think? Here are some corporate RSS role models.

GE may have an old logo, but look what GE is doing with RSS feeds!

Another venerable name, U. S. Steel, offers RSS feeds.

Abbott offers RSS and explains it much more simply than Amazon (see below).

Maybe farmers, miners, and builders read feeds along with investors and employees. John Deere has RSS.

BP’s got RSS, and Exxon Mobil, a stellar corporate communicator, offers RSS feeds by business unit and topic.

Target Corporation offers limited RSS service for news, but why not RSS for consumers to get the latest specials?

RSS Opportunity Knocks!
This Boeing Web page is screaming for RSS, along with this Web page from Rubbermaid.

First Solar may be way ahead of the oil companies in alternative energy, but apparently not in RSS.

Amazingly, McDonald’s doesn’t let you order burgers with extra pickles and RSS.

How many people will read their press, compared to the GEs and Exxons of the world?

RSS Case Study — Amazon
When I learned that Amazon would begin using RSS feeds, I thought it might go a long way towards popularizing this massively under utilized technology. Unfortunately, what I’m seeing on the Amazon Web site isn’t quite there yet.

The Amazon Web page that explains its RSS services is a tad overwhelming. They get points for trying, definitely, but will they scare off RSS newbies? I don’t know.

The above mentioned page leads you to this “murder mystery tag” page as an example of how to subscribe to an RSS feed. To paraphrase the old Wendy’s commercial, “Where’s the feed?” If you can find it in less than 15 seconds, you’re more observant than I am.

If RSS inquiring minds make it that far, they will end up seeing an actual Amazon feed subscription page that looks like this. Sweet! If you were interested in running, here’s a feed with real value.

Hopefully Amazon will simplify its explanation of RSS and make feeds more prominent and frequent across their site. What they’ve done already is a big step in the right direction: once we all get comfortable with feeds, the sky’s the limit as far as business applications are concerned.

Happy RSS Awareness Day!