CYBERSPACE – Although internet tech experts and high functioning end users rave about the potential information and financial goldmine inherent in Rich Site Summary (RSS), the mainstream surfer has been slow to embrace the syndicated Web content format. In fact, a recent study by Forrester Research found that a surprisingly low number of adults have taken advantage of the XML publishing application’s potential.Rich Site Summary allows websites to republish a portion of their contents via an RSS document that is registered with an RSS publisher and read on sites other than the one on which the content originates. Event listings, news feeds and stories, headlines, updates, discussion forum excerpts, and even corporate information are all currently available via RSS technology.

According to the study, a mere two-percent of North American adults polled by Forrester Research reported having used RSS. This compares to five-percent of teens and young adults aged 12 through 21 which, depending on trends, may suggest that the technology’s popularity will increase as its younger user base ages and as current adults gain familiarity and comfort with its uses. As popular mainstream websites including Yahoo, CNET, GameSpot, News.com, and the Washington Post, as well as adult sites such as YNOT incorporate the powerful application into their available services, users will have increasing opportunities to see and sample the powerful Web publishing tool. In fact, some users are already accessing date via RSS feed without realizing it, as is the case with visitors to portal sites like My Yahoo!, which likely affected the study’s accuracy.

Those who did report RSS access were predominantly male, with 66-percent of them being above the age of 21 and nearly as many in the 12 – 21 youth group. Unfortunately for adult webmasters, no further age breakdown was made available, so the number of participants aged 18 to 21 is uncertain. However, both adult and youth users of RSS feeds consider themselves to be tech optimists and spend nearly twice the amount of time online each week as their lower tech companions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they are also more likely to make use of broadband and wireless services.

The Forrester report divides RSS users as either “information junkies” or “online shoppers,” with nearly a quarter visiting comparison-shopping sites and 40-percent researching products prior to online purchase. Both numbers far exceeded those of non-RSS feed users. Likewise, the more techno- and news-savvy RSS group not only shops online more often but spends more money while doing so. On their off time, a quarter of the RSS users publish or maintain blogs, with slightly more reading them.

Ultimately, the report concluded that although the number of RSS users is still small, it has great marketing potential, especially as feeds become easier to locate and use. Forrester recommends that marketers begin testing the application soon, given its low cost and risk.