Readwriteweb.com posted an interesting article yesterday concluding that Facebook has the numbers advantage when it comes to subscribing to news feeds. It also commented on the favourable way it encourages people to 'become a fan' of the feed as apposed to subscribing to an RSS which they rightly claimed sounds costly and more confusing than a simple click of a Facebook button.
News publishers of course prefer Facebook as well due to the way it lends itself to the idea of sharing and linking with very smooth methods. So will Facebook's live feed eventually becoming nothing more than a glorified, diverse RSS feed tailored to the users favourite sources? It's certainly very possible. I've noticed a growing tendency amongst friends to link to stories, videos and photos they like and I almost always click through and see what the fuss is about.
What I found really enlightening about the argument though was this friendly way of using news that Facebook has so successfully adopted. It's so funny how just the word 'subscribe' can instantly turn a users nose up. Once upon a time news was news, consumers consumed it and that was that. But the web has changed that. The need for interaction has changed that. Subscribing to an RSS feed is for the professional who wants information. Becoming a fan of a news publisher is for those who want to shape the news, comment, be part of a community around a certain topic or theme. There is a very obvious difference and whilst I agree with Readwriteweb that Facebook is in a very strong position for the future I can't help but feel like the need for business news has again been missed from the argument.
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