Corporate RSS Directory - You've Got It Backwards
Nooked has announced their plans to create a directory of corporate RSS feeds (via Common Craft).
I saved this earlier today to blog about it, thinking "hey, this is a good idea, got to mention it". But thinking about it again, I don't know. Isn't it a very strange idea? They might fill a short-term need but nonetheless a directory is the wrong way. 180 degrees wrong. I can't see myself browsing a directory to find corporate feeds to subscribe to.
Believe me, I don't need more feeds just because it's fun.
I'll subscribe to feeds - corporate or others - when I've found a site that interests me. If I see news or other stuff I want to be updated on, I'll look for a feed. On the site. If I do research on a subject I start with MSN Search or Google. To find a site. The site is where the relation starts, the subscription to a feed is a subsequent contract between me and the publisher: I like you. Keep me updated.
Nooked won't hurt. In the short-term they might help us find feeds for companies that doesn't make their feeds visible enough for us to find them on their sites. But I would rather recommend a company to keep an eye on what design standards that evolves on the web. I believe it's Jakob Nielsen who's said that if 8 out of 10 sites make the same design choice, follow them. We will see this happening with how feeds are announced on corporate sites too.