A few weeks back, I wrote a post about Understanding the Changing Web Economy. That post was the seed thought behind a lot of thinking I’ve been doing lately and a topic submission I made for WordCamp Atlanta. Today’s post continues that thought as we look at the future of web browsing.

There have been a number of posts now on jtrigsby.com about the end of the personal computer. My wife and I had a great discussion about this very topic last night. As we continue to shrink the footprint of the devices that enable access to the vast content of the web, the way we browse that content is changing as well. Rapidly vanishing are the days or evenings spent sitting behind the monitor in the corner of the living room or spare bedroom. Today you’re just as likely to be on the bus, waiting in line for lunch, or stopped in traffic. The volume of sources that we scan regularly has grown as well, giving rise to a boon of applications designed to sync our bookmarks or make remembering all those sites easier.

Enter the feed reader

Using an application like Google Reader and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is an awesome way to scan through and quickly read a lot of material. All of your favorite sites and posts are aggregated in one location for easy click-and-read navigation. I have used a Reader for some time now… otherwise there would be no way I could get through all the sites I need / want to read in a day. In fact, even with a reader, its kinda hard.

The big drawback to the feedreader is that your subscribers can now read your content without visiting your site. Fine if you just have thoughts you want to express in the written form. Some feed readers will pull in your graphics as well so you photogs out there can get your pics and artwork seen. But what about the rest of your site?

• No one will see the theme you’ve slaved over to get just right!
• The PERFECT social network icons… ignored!
• Recent posts first or popular posts first! Doesn’t matter!
• Perhaps worst, those ads you fretted with over style, placement and color… NO ONE WILL SEE THEM!

Well, ok… that last one is not entirely true. Maybe they’ll see them, more on that in another post.

All Is Not Lost – The Link Economy To the Rescue

In the past, our understanding of economies, transactions and how the web worked would have led us to worry about the demise of the personal computer. But we have faith in the Link Economy… right!?! (Check this link from Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine.com on Understanding the Link Economy if you’re not quite up to speed on the link economy yet, then come back… I’ll wait, I promise!) The link economy finds the best of the best and raises them to the top.

See, I consider Jeff an authority on the Link Economy and rather than explain it all to you, I sent you over to his site. As he likes to say, “Do what you do best, and link to the rest,” so I did. Even if you’re reading this post in a feed reader, you’ll be sent to BuzzMachine.com, not his feed (although you can subscribe to his feed, I highly recommend it!). He even has ads on his site, from which he may get a click or two from traffic I send his way.

I know, I know… for some of you this would be a travesty! Sending visitors to someone else’s blog without even asking for so much as a “Thank you kindly!” Let me give you two quick and (hopefully) easy to understand reasons why its ok with me.

First, its a pretty good possibility that my reader was reading the post in a feed reader rather than on the site. So in reality, I didn’t send them away… I just pointed them to a solid, authoritative source for information. In fact, most readers will open the link in a new window / browser / tab anyway, keeping the feed reader pointed at my post.

Second, and more importantly, this is how things get done in the Link Economy. Jeff writes great content and I really like his ideas on (most) topics… so I link. If I want links (um, and this applies to you as well) then I need to write good content that people want to link to. When they do, its up to me to monetize that traffic, or maybe just get them to subscribe to View Source, aka the newsletter. Either way, the link giver has done their part, now its up to me (and you).

And Now Its Up To You!

So the ball is in your court. What are you going to do with it? Well, I can give you a few suggestions…

• If you don’t have one, setup your Google Reader account now. Start by subscribing to your own feed. This will give you a sense of what others see when they read your site. Then, subscribe to my feed!
• Browse around the web for some other feeds to check out. Most blogs have a pretty prominent link to the RSS feed near the top of the page. If you need some ideas to get you started, check out my Follow Friday recommendations.
• As you read the content of your newly followed sites, jot down some ideas for blog posts. Then as you write the posts, be sure to link back to the site that gave you the idea. I know they’ll appreciate it.

Those are just a few ideas. Share your ideas with us in the comments! Tell us if you use a reader or if you visit every site every time. What do you think about linking away from your site? Does it scare you? Tell us why?

@jtrigsby

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