The Alert for an RSS

Many of us today take full advantage of the Internet, we have our usual sites that we go to and check daily, we have our usual round up of information. Read, type, read, type, it's a vicious cycle. But now, it can be easier, you can have everything brought to you. So now, the process goes type, read, read, read, read, and well, you get the picture.

Yes, this sounds like an advertisement, because well, it might as well be one. By setting up an RSS feed, you get everything brought to you. You can do this with many sites, personally, I put my comfort in the hands of Google, however the choice is yours. If you go to your favorite site, you're going to see a link that looks like the picture above. Click on that button, enter your information, and tada! Now all you have to do is log onto your RSS feed page, and everything is there for you. It will notify you of any updates on any of your favorite sites! Crazy, right? In case my description isn't clear enough, here is an informational video to help you understand the wonders of the RSS feed.

Oh, the wonders of the RSS. As someone who is looking at going into a public relations field, this is very vital to my career. If I need to get my updates quickly in the morning so I could make decisions about what to m

ake my press release about, I can have all the latest news just sent to me to view quickly, and in one place. I would no longer have to go searching for the information, when it's just brought right to me. Not enough people take advantage of this concept, but I'm sure if they tried it, they would understand.

As helpful of a trick as an RSS feed is, Google Alerts are equally as helpful. If you go to your google account, and sign up for what is called a "google alert" then you can type anything you have questions about in. For example, I had questions about the iPad when it was first released, I was curious to see what others were saying, and what reviews it was receiving. So, I went to my Google Alerts and typed in iPad, and from the point on, twice a day I receive emails that include links and stories that were published all over the web that pertain to the iPad. This information is brought right to me.

Google Alerts are another trick of the trade to know for someone that is going into the PR field, for example you can easily find out what is being said about your company by anyone who accesses the Internet. How much easier could your job be? Here is a video about how to use Google Alerts.

Google Alerts and RSS feeds go hand in hand in how they are helping to shape a media driven world. While they are easy to use and help us greatly in the day to day routine, what is it really doing for us, and how are they effecting us? Everything falls under the tool sets, even things that make our lives easier. ESPECIALLY things that make our lives easier.

They effect the brain especially in the neocortex because it is all through reading. Everything that you put onto your RSS feed or receive through email from your Google Alert involves reading, and then processing the information that you are reading, that you take in. The neocortex is where all the higher level thinking takes place.

RSS and Google Alerts are a perfect example of the aesthetic shift as they take something that was meant for many, and bring it directly to you. When you no longer have to go visit companies web pages to get their information, you are not seeing everything else they want you to see. No advertisements, no other stories that are placed to grab your attention. They are also examples of the technological shift as you are accessing all this information for your self, your own personal viewing, it's being brought to you and only you in this direct format.

In my opinion, these two methods of information are examples of ownership. You are doing what these companies want, you are such a loyal customer that you are limiting your search for information to there information and their information only. For example, usually to get the news, you'll scan sites to find what you want, however, with RSS feeds you are getting direct feed back from only the sites that you want. You are limiting yourself to the information you are getting, which then leads into "reality" construction/trade offs because you don't know what is being told, and what isn't being told. You are trusting the specific sources you get.

In terms of persuasion techniques, it really involves all of them depending upon the information that you are getting from using Google Alerts and RSS Feeds. This could be all of them, maybe just a hand full, but it is at lest a few of them.

RSS Feeds and Google Alerts are new for our time, but it's something that was a long time coming. These are two things that are vital for most career tracks, and even if it has no relation to something you are studying in the future, it's a great way to keep informed. As someone who uses both of these informational techniques, I would recommend them in a heart beat. Alright, this is the end of this advertisement.