A common challenge I face on a daily basis is getting people to understand some of the newer fringe technologies that are quickly becoming integrated into daily practice across the web. One such challenge is explaining the concept of RSS, or more broadly, content syndicated through XML, and today I realized one of the root causes for the confusion or apprehension that can be out there.

Just today I helped launch a redesigned job postings page for the University of British Columbia: UBC HR Staff Job Postings. My contribution mostly involved some work on information design / page layout, along with adding in RSS feeds which included the addition of an RSS icon:

After a little while, one of my co-workers asked, “Why aren’t we using the ‘official’ feed icon?”

The ‘official’ icon?

“The one with the waves,” he said (or something to that effect).

Hmm. Good question. The best I could answer at the time was, “Well, when we first drafted this page, there was no ‘official’ icon.”

We had initially started work on the page several months earlier, and at the time, there were a handful of feed icons being used. Take a look around news sites today, and you’ll still see a smattering of varieties:

Business Week uses this:

The Economist uses this:

The New York Times uses this:

Well, after doing some research into it, it turns out this choice of icon for web feeds is somewhat of a contentious issue, but one that is being worked through as I type.

According to Feed Icons, “A new standard is being established to identify syndicated content.” The “official” icon? It’s the one with the waves:

Why is this important?

Well, it’s hard enough to explain the concept of content syndication – why compound the issue by displaying the words “RSS” or “XML”? This is technical jargon which the average person really doesn’t need to know about.

The technology behind content syndication through XML, while being increasingly adopted by all sorts of web properties, is still a fringe technology that the mass market of everyday people hasn’t fully adopted yet. Although this is changing on a daily basis, those of us who work in the industry on a daily basis should be taking it upon ourselves to help establish conventions to improve the consistency and create a common standard that will ultimately help the people we are trying to communicate to.

This, is the power of an icon.

One single consistent standard icon to identify syndication feeds will help the mass user adoption of this new technology. No more confusion, no more questions about what RSS stands for or what XML is or what this thing called Atom is all about.

With each variety of an RSS/Atom/XML icon we throw out there, we only compound the problem and create greater confusion and uncertainty which will undermine the adoption of the technology itself.

So, the bottom line? Help spread the good word. Visit Feed Icons, learn about this movement, and make your contribution to the betterment of online communication.

If You Liked This, You Might Also Like:

The orange icon… – A post from the Microsoft Team RSS Blog

The New Standard Feed Icon – A little bit of history behind the icons

The Globe and Mail’s RSS News Feed page – Are you a designer or developer? Or do you have any hand in how syndicated content is being offered online? If so, I’d highly recommend taking a look at what might be one of the best examples of introducing feeds to the general public: The Globe and Mail’s RSS News Feed page. It’s not only an elegant piece of work from a technical perspective, but it’s also incredibly user-friendly. I’ll take a look at this in another post, but for now go check it out and learn from it. Within a year’s time, and with any luck and a lot of hard work from the web monkeys in the world, this will be the new standard.