Syndicate Conference Overview
Recently, at the Syndicate Conference in San Francisco, the conversation centered on the complex world of “Compound Feeds, Micro-content, and the Future of Syndication.” Such technical jargon can indeed be overwhelming, prompting many to ask, “micro-what?”
The Band Website Dilemma
Imagine being a bass player in a band, managing its website. This site features a calendar frequently updated with tour dates. Yet, fans might not return to your site often. How can they get instant updates? And can a non-tech-savvy musician easily broadcast this info?
Introducing the hCard
Tantek Celik, Chief Technologist at Technorati, mentions that about 40,000 Avon representatives employ the hCard. This tool is an add-on for websites or blogs, syndicating contact data for subscribers. Tools like hCard and hCalendar aim to facilitate data syndication, even for those not well-versed in web tech.
Compound Feeds Explained
Marc Canter, CEO of Broadband Mechanics, discussed the potential of compound feeds. These feeds integrate multiple segments: new content, calendar updates, and contact info updates. The challenge? Seamlessly integrating these components online.
PubSub’s New Approach: Structured Blogging
In answer to this challenge, PubSub unveiled its “Structured Blogging” initiative. This publishing tool intuitively structures blog posts, ensuring they’re machine-readable, sans the technical finesse from the author’s side.
Salim Ismail, co-founder and CEO of PubSub, highlighted the vastness of the hidden web, stating, “The hidden web is 5 times larger than the visible one. Our goal is building tools to access all that structured data.”
Moreover, PubSub launched FeedMesh (also termed PingMesh by Canter). It operates as a cooperative real-time aggregator of pings, reminiscent of Ping-O-Matic. By collating data from diverse ping services, FeedMesh operates like a mega-syndicator, widening the reach of shared content.
Salim Ismail added, “We’re transitioning to a world with millions of readers and publishers. In syndication, it’s unfeasible to dominate the feed syndication. Hence, we initiated Feedmesh.”
The Core of the Matter
In essence, these novel tools and services simplify the syndication process. They enable publishers to produce machine-compatible, segmented content, amplify its distribution, and furnish real-time updates to subscribers.
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