Web logs, channel ezines, what’s the difference?
Web logs, or blogs, are a communication medium, gaining in popularity, through which RSS [Really Simple Sydication] technology has been introduced to the populous. However, blogs and RSS are not synonomous. RSS technology is what gives life to the blog. and, has been around for awhile. Blogging is a relatively new use for the system.
RSS has been used by the media for quite some time, to bring Internet travelers the news, stock updates, and such. But blogging has brought it into the mainstream, making it a bit more user friendly for the average traveler.
Put simply, a web log is a interactive, virtual diary, that can be read by anyone, and commented on, by its readers, as well. The technology, driving the blog, is capable of so much more.
Publishing an ezine through a channel feed is another use that is picking up steam. Seeing the benefits of channel publishing, more and more ezine publishers are either supplementing or replacing their email systems of distribution.
Since channel subscription is not subscriber bot friendly, and requires that one physically subscribe to the channel of choice, without email reliance, it is the only true 100% opt-in method for receiving information. Subscription forgeries cannot occur. Opting out is as simple as deleting the channel from your computer. It is instant and non-publisher dependent.
Channel publishing also makes permanent, what used to end up in the trash. Even ezines that manage to make through the filters and into the inboxes of readers, eventually wind up at the virtual curb, when it has been read. Not so with channel publishing. Articles published on a channel are given an item number and become a permanent archive of the channel. This allows the reader to refer back to it, should the need arise, at any time, without having to store the piece on their hard drive.
Another plus to itemization and archiving, is that these articles, being rich in content, are easliy spidered by search engines. This feature offers the publisher to gain new subscribers based on keyword searches made by John Q. Basically, people who have never heard of my own zine, can find out about it, just by searching for a term contained within one of the articles I’ve published, and Hello… New Subscriber!
Best of all, ezine publishing via RSS channels, allows the publisher a simple method of syndicating their publication on any web site wanting to add content. This is free exposure to the nth degree! We’re not talking about adding a link to someone elses web site, we’re talking about running a list of recent headlines, that redirect to its point of origin. Consider what syndication meant for Ann Landers and Dear Abby, in print. Syndication is what has kept Star Trek alive and well, through four decades.
Lastly, where email gets information lost among the spam in the reader’s inbox, channel publishing puts you right on their desktop, where you can’t be missed or accidentally deleted. You’ll never trip another autoresponder again either.
Web logs exist because of RSS, but the technology itself is so much more than that. It is the foundation upon which limitless applications may be based. Ezine channel publishing is but another extension; there are still more to come.
Copyright © 2004
The Trii-Zine Ezine
http://www.ezines1.com/triizine
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