RSS feeding hunger for blogs

One in 10 blog readers is now using RSS, according to a new report, but the vast majority of weblog addicts have never heard of the technology.

The study, from net monitoring firm Nielsen Netratings, found that more than 60 per cent of blog readers are unfamiliar with RSS, while another 23 per cent said they were aware of the syndication system but hadn't used it.

Slightly less than half of those who already use RSS prefer to get feeds via aggregation software, with the rest preferring to get their blog fix through aggregator sites.

The report also measured the growing popularity of the blog phenomenon, with the top 50 blog and blog-related sites seeing a rise in visitors of 31 per cent since the start of the year.

Around 20 per cent of active internet users are now reading the top 50 blogs, according to Nielsen Netratings.

MSN Spaces was found to be the fastest growing blog site, with a 947 per cent rise in visitors between January and July of this year, attracting 3.3 million visitors last month.