I have been using RSS for my blog and clients in many ways, not just for feed readers. I am surprised to see so many blog headlines about how RSS is dead. Am I just way behind the time or am I missing something?

“The rumor of RSS’ death is greatly exagerated!”

RSS is a crucial part of the SM landscape. You should never ignore it or go without.

I am 100% convinced that it is not just alive, but can be one of the MOST  powerful tools in your Social Media arsenal. Traditionally RSS is imprisoned on overcrowded feed readers and unknown to most of your clients, friends, and family.  But what about using it for those clients that deploy using automation as part of their strategy. (Not getting in to the do’s and don’ts of automation and please don’t label me as an automationist.) But if your client needs this, unleash the RSS beast. 

What do you currently use that has RSS or Atom feed? Your Blog, Delicious, Digg, Flickr, Google +, YouTube, Twitter ( yes twitter ex. http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=@webbystation  ) and the list goes on and on. 

Now what would happen if you ran those feeds through TwitterFeed (be sure you check Bit.ly for tracking) or some similar 3rd party app? With one click, you are now feeding your “stuff” to your entire social grid. First off to FB pages, then on to Twitter, LinkedIn, AOL Lifestream, and back to your Blog sidebar if you want. Talk about being all places at once. Automation on Steroids. Of course be sure to have a well planned Gliffy diagram, and yes, I suggest you use this judiciously and with discernment. 

Now do you see why I say RSS can become a social media ICBM?

@jasonwiser I use and abuse RSS feeds to the ultimate extents if possible.  :)  My Google Reader is jam packed with them, and my portfolio runs off of category feeds.  

@jasonwiser I actually use rss mainly for export-import routines between different sites, i.e. from a news blog I manage to displaying the latest news headlines on other sites. For me it is just a technical routine, no real help for my personal well-being.

@jasonwiser

I find that RSS is very useful, however, it is mainly used by other bloggers and tech savvy people.  I do not find it a mainstream thing just because it is not used by regular people.  It’s a great tool, but it may be specifically targeting a demographic. Hopefully, it catch on more widely!

@atlantarobin I don’t think RSS feeds alone help your rankings, but if you submit your RSS to RSS directories (see a list here -  http://www.toprankblog.com/rss-blog-directories/), then it might help you build additional links to your site which would help your rankings in search.

@kristi-hines great link. again. Thanks.