The rest of you, read on

Never thought I'd say this, but I went to a conference last week and it was AMAZING. Yup, in caps and everything. Webstock blew my mind: there were a lot of big ideas floating around, and I have a new bunch of intellectual crushes, not to mention some fire in my belly.

However, one of the small things that really stuck in my head was Russell Brown noting Nielsen data released earlier this year showing that only 8% of New Zealanders are down with RSS. That means 92% of you are missing out on one of the most useful web tools out there.

Those of you already using a feed reader can leave now - try this article from the Brooklyn Rail about art assistants (that's where all those art school grads are going ...)

For the rest of you, please let me try to convince you again that using RSS will change your life. Truly! Marketers say sell the benefits, not the features, so:

• you'll be up to date AND more efficient (you'll no longer have to visit to visit 15 blogs and 3 newspapers sites every morning before you open the file you're meant to be working on)
• you'll be exposed to new ideas and the people thinking them (and the people they're following ... and the people they're following .... )
• you'll become curious (and knowledgable) about things you never thought mattered to you (e.g. plasticbag.org has made me better informed about Battlestar Galactica than I ever thought I would be)
• you'll become part of this huge network of thinking, writing, doing, sharing people - and believe me, that's a wonderful and motivating feeling.
  

If all the people who read this blog got themselves a feed reader, it wouldn't do diddly to change the Nielsen stats. But it would make me happy.