Has Twitter Has Killed RSS Readers? Traffic To Google Reader Down 27% Since Last Year

RSS readers, the wave of the future a few years ago, are now basically toast, thanks largely (we think) to Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media (especially Twitter).

RSS readers were unlikely to go truly mainstream anyway, because they’re too complicated for mass-market consumers.  And now much of the early adopter market that was addicted to them a few years ago has since moved on to Twitter, et al.

Some folks report that they use their RSS readers even MORE in the age of Twitter, because the jumbled 140 character thing is just too shallow and chaotic. Others actually read Twitter via RSS readers.

But, personally, I never use RSS readers anymore–in part because of Twitter and in part because we’ve built a more convenient way to follow the news right into the site.

And based on the traffic trends to the leading RSS readers, it appears many folks are doing the same.  As Joseph Tartakoff of paidcontent notes, Bloglines was shut down this week, and traffic to the grand-daddy of RSS readers, Google Reader, is down 27% year over year.

I conclude the answer is a resounding NO and that Google Reader is the best way to manage Twitter but most people haven’t gone beyond the surface yet. Comment, call or use the contact form to discuss how this applies to your business…