Random Thoughts While Reading My Sunday Morning Feeds

I like RSS feeds in general and services like Friendfeed because they make it easier for me to keep up with all of the Web updates I need to.

But I see two issues.

First, filtering what you see or read online can be horribly limiting and sometimes leaves little room for serendipity. I admit that I don’t vary or update my feeds as often as I should, and this can lead to tunnel vision. I really should be reading about the things I don’t know, instead of reading the things that reinforce what I already do. But sometimes, I’m so busy that I only read my feeds. So how do I find new things to spark my interest, without getting overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff thrown at me? I’m always looking for a better way.

Secondly, feeds make it easier to chart online behavior. This can be good and downright creepy. One of my friends, for example, recently discovered a new list of news story feeds on her New York Times home page. It’s sponsored by LinkedIn and based on her profile. I haven’t seen this feature yet, but I’m on the look out for it. She says the links listed target her interests exactly, but she doesn’t remember giving NYT permission to access her LinkedIn profile or visa versa. I assume that doesn’t matter if her LinkedIn profile is public.

The marketing and Web communicator in me thinks features like this are pretty cool. But there is another part of me that worries about privacy. As the integration between online services and tools gets better and easier to use, it becomes more important to monitor your online presence. And many don’t police themselves at all.