Weblogs and RSS for Non-Profits

Kris Bell, krisbell {at} krisbell {dot} com

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Kottke.org

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  • Knew his readers (geeks)
  • Gave them a reason to read and donate (great content, delivered daily)
  • Orchestrated successful three-week fund drive

Weblogs—What Are They?

  • The Short Answer: A frequently updated log of links to resources about and commentary on a particular topic.
  • The Long Answer: Depends on who you ask.
    • Some say it's any journal or diary on the web
    • Other use more restrictive criteria, such as saying that commentary should be on external resources or news items, and not self-referential
    • Most of us have settled on something between the two

The Anatomy of a Weblog

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  1. Posts—each weblog is broken into a series of posts, or articles
  2. Title—each post has a title
  3. Comments—each post has comments, where readers engage in a dialogue about the content of that post
  4. Permalinks—each post has a permanent link, so the post can be referenced for years to come
  5. Blogroll—a list of related weblogs
  6. RSS Feed—an alternative way of reading the blog

Other Characteristics

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  • Current
  • Updated Often
  • Informal Voice
  • Reverse Chronological

A Bit of History

  • Weblogs are as old as the web
  • First weblogs were “news” or “updates”
  • First weblog software was in 1997
  • 2001-2002 was watershed period, when new weblog software became popular
  • 8,000,000+ weblogs today; thousands added daily

Common Myths

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  • Blogs are poorly written journals written by 12-year old girls about boys, fashion, and pop music
  • Blogs are the equivalent of right-wing talk radio
  • Blogs are going to kill off The New York Times

Reasons a Non-Profit Might Blog

Reasons a Non-Profit Might Blog

  • To capture organizational knowledge as it exists at a specific time » Microsoft Bloggers
  • To discuss current issues that relate to your mission » Oregon CUB
  • For Transparency » Mark Cuban

Reasons a Non-Profit Might Blog

What Makes a Good Blog?

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  • A Clear Message
  • An Obvious Need
  • A Clear Goal
  • A Strong Commitment
  • An Audience

So, Should YOU Blog?

  • Yes! If you frequently have news you want to share on your site.
  • Yes! If you are frequently finding resources you want to share with the community.
  • Yes! If you want feedback on news items, or if you want to engage readers in an open dialogue.

So, Should YOU Blog?

  • Nope, if you have nothing say
  • Nope, if you don’t have the time, energy, or can’t commit

Blogging Tools

  • Tools For Your Site

State of Non-Profit Blogging Today

RSS

What is it?
Really Simply Syndication
It’s a version of your website with the style (color, formatting) stripped out
It’s bare bones, so is easily readable by software

Yeah? So? I Don't Get It

  • RSS offers a structured framework for information
  • When information is structured, computers can parse that information
  • When computers can parse information, the information can be presented in ways different originally intended

Why is that Important?

Efficiency

Traditional Way To Read the Web

Distributed Model

Distributed Web Model

Newsreaders

  • Software that reads RSS files
    • Parses them
    • Aggregates them
    • Organizes them
  • Let’s you read the web in ONE place

Reading With a Newsreader

Aggregated Model

Distributed Web Model

Types of Newsreaders

Advantages of Using a Newsreader

  • Never forget which sites you read
  • Eliminate unnecessary visits to site
  • Mark items to read later
  • “Blog this” feature (if you keep a weblog)
  • Folders and subfolders

Detecting RSS

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  • Orange XML
  • Try it in your newsreader
  • “Syndicate me” or “Syndicate this site”

Are Blogs Only Ones Using RSS?

The End

Continue forward for resources . . .

For More Information on RSS See:

A Selection of Weblogs

Non-Profit Weblogs

A Selection of Weblogs

More Non-Profit Weblogs

A Section of Weblogs

My Favorites

Weblog Trackers/Aggregators