The World Wide Web is getting a make over. Finally after a long time we're experiencing an online revolution that's worth talking about. Yes, it's got a new look, new feel and a cooler extension, the Web 2.0 is here. Microsoft's taking it very seriously, while Yahoo! can't stop raving about it. So what is web 2.0 and what has RSS got to do with it?
Web 2.0 is nothing but a newer, faster and a much easier web. The goal is simple, the resurrected version of the web will make the information more personalized, centralized and monetized. And RSS is a major player and contributor to this new beginning.
RSS - The Crucial Element
RSS is still not a very familiar technology and not a household word yet. However, it's already very obvious and extremely clear what role RSS will be playing in the future of the Internet. It's understood that RSS will be an important component in the success of Web 2.0. As it will help in enabling and helping companies give out software as a service. It will not only prove to be a system that gives daily notifications a new meaning, but also gel the many important parts and services of Web 2.0 together, in order to churn out better and easier solutions.
Businesses, which can take advantage of RSS will flourish and reap the rewards it has to offer. RSS is making the Internet audience self-reliant. It is enabling users with self-service without you being the central control. By giving the control to the users, the information gets well organized and it creates a smooth platform for you to give out more useful info.
Connecting the Web
The web has become a sprawling network of different services. RSS is helping the web connect these services in an organized fashion in the new Web 2.0. In the coming few years, RSS will definitely be seen on every website and blog. Any service without RSS would lag behind.
Using RSS, search engines are giving out search results on specific keywords connecting the users with the information they can use. Websites are re-syndicating content from other websites, as the new fad of displaying RSS feeds catches up. Various kinds of mash ups are coming up and unique services are being started out of thin air. New services are able to deliver the freshest news available to their users right on time, as it happens. Truly helping a common man know now, using nothing but really simple syndication.
Not only are the big companies using RSS to get ahead of the competition, smaller firms are also using it to the fullest extent. In short, the web is being connected deeply and strongly.
A More Personalized Web
Since the advent of the Internet, what every web user wished for was a more personalized web. Which now comes in the disguise of Web 2.0. Google made its home more personalized by introducing its new aggregator. RSS feeds can be added, read and tracked right from your favorite search engines home page.
Microsoft's foray into this new market gradually happened, and it started start.com. A service which is still in beta, where you can add RSS feeds, drag them around the page, delete them right there. A classic example of Web 2.0 in action, RSS made it possible for such web honchos to tap into a huge market with a bigger potential.
RSS might not be as popular as the new X-Box. But it surely gives us a glimpse of a promising future, a much more personal and targeted web. Web 2.0 is RSS.
Mustafa Khundmiri is the co-founder of http://www.rapidfeeds.com - A Free online service which helps anyone create, edit, publish and track RSS feeds and podcasts. Sign Up for your FREE account on http://www.rapidfeeds.com and also get a free subscription to "RSS Chronicle" - A Newsletter exclusively based on RSS and syndication.