31% (not 4%) use RSS

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Slashdot has got itself into some sort of frenzy about the number of RSS users, referring to an October study sponsored by Yahoo (PDF). 

They claim (and Robert Scoble repeats the claim) that according to the study only 4% of internet users are using RSS.

I have news. It's not true.

I know, because I blogged about the research months ago. The study actually showed that 4% knew they were using RSS, while 27% were using RSS without realising it. I quote (from the study):

"27% of Internet users consume RSS syndicated content on personalized start pages (e.g., My Yahoo!, My MSN) without knowing that RSS is the enabling technology."

So according to the study, 31%, not 4%, use RSS.

Not only is Slashdot 3 months late in picking up on this study, but it completely missed the point.

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Tags: rss