Learn RSS: The Best First Step for a Church or Ministry Wanting to Understand the Web
Posted on 11. Nov, 2007 by Aaron Marshall in Church Technology, Church2.0, How To, Social Media
How RSS Benefits folks in Church and Ministry
- Absorb large amounts of useful information without being overwhelmed.
- Make an easy way to keep up with news and information thats important to you.
- Create a constant stream of new ideas for your church and ministry.
- Keep up with multiple members, church leaders, and group blogs.
- Have daily devotionals and bible readings fed directly to you.
- Be aware of your local city and worldwide happenings without having to receive and read multiple papers.
Its very hard to keep up, let alone stay ahead. RSS feeds give a healthy boost of new and relevant information without overloading you. RSS is a foundational staple for understanding the web and keeping up. If you take the time to learn any new internet technology, take the time to master the RSS feed.
Instructional video to help you get started:
RSS Readers
Mobile RSS Readers
If you are like me and don’t like staring at computer screens I recommend using a mobile RSS reader. I dont read any RSS feeds at a computer, I do it all through my Blackberry. I will talk about mobile web content in the future. In my opinion its already becoming huge, and will quickly become a standard medium for receiving information.
Upcoming Posts about RSS:
How Missions Organizations can Benefit from using an RSS Reader
Awesome List of RSS Feeds for Church and Ministry
Great job Aaron! I will have a link to another RSS video for you soon Really appreciate the energy you put into your blog!
Great post! I think that RSS is, unfortunately, misunderstood by those who don’t work with technology every day. However, I think that most of the major web sites like Yahoo! understand its power and are trying to implement it in a behind-the-scenes way. This allows end users to have the benefits of syndication without having to understand the intricacies of RSS
Thats an interesting point. A LOT of people use RSS but don’t realize it. MyYahoo and iGoogle make it so easy to get started without ever dropping the ugly acronym.
Super blog!
By the way, I would be interested in a “behind the scenes” look at how your shoot your videos. They look very well done, and I would like to see what camera you use, microphone, video editing software, etc.
Found your site through your comments on my blog. Love what you are doing here. Will link to you from my blog.
I have run into issues with family, friends, and church members with RSS. It’s not so much that they think it’s hard to use. It really is easy to use. I think it is a matter of people not wanting to change the way that they currently do things. This has sort of been a mission of mine lately to find ways to promote these services and find a way help people adopt new technologies. My roadblock is getting people to try it and change.
You just described a very real obstacle. Peoples resistance to change. Try leading with Problems, Frustrations, Concerns, and Annoyances.
I think that short of holding someones hand through the whole process, there is no easy way to get people to adopt these tools.
I try and hit “Hot Buttons” for example:
-Email is completely frustrating as a means of staying up to date on news and trends.
-Information overload really bites
-How can we possibly keep up with and engage a culture that moves so fast?
-Surfing the web is exhausting with all of the bloated sites full advertising messages.
To help people see the value of anything you have to make it real to them. Find problems, frustrations, concerns, annoyances and lead with those.
Hope this helps!
Great post. What RSS reader do you use on your mobile Aaron? I happen to use Google reader, because its so easy. Also, its easy to click over to other Google productivity services. Dealing with the Google family of products also sets me up to be integrated with future Google services as they release them.
I haven’t really investigated Netvibes or Pageflakes. iGoogle offers similar services, but I couldn’t say how they measure up.
For new folks, RSS is really simple syndication. Its the way blogs and websites can communicate new information and updates.
I use Viigo. Its changed my life. I can post to De.lico.us from it.
Netvibes in my opinion is easier to add feeds and it also has multiple other useful functions that are easy to install.
Wow, I am sooooooooooo impressed with your Blog.
You are an inspiration!
As you would say, “Roll With It!”
KUDOS!
Jules