From Editor & Publisher, July 22

Study: Majority of U.S. Internet Users Unfamiliar with Podcasting, RSS Feeds

By Jay DeFoore

Podcasting and RSS feeds may be the buzzwords around the interactive offices of most major publishing companies today, but the vast majority of Americans still have no idea what the terms mean, according to a new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

RSS, or Real Simple Syndication, had the lowest recognition among those surveyed. Only 9% said they had a good idea of what the term means, 65% said they were not really sure, and 26% said they had never heard of it. For the uninitiated, RSS is a technology that allows users to pull articles and headlines from news sites and blogs directly into their computers.

Podcasting received similar blank stares. Only 13% of those surveyed said they had a good idea of the term, which refers to audio files that are downloaded from Web sites and played at the convenience of users. A majority -- 64% -- said they were not really sure what the term meant and 23% had never heard of it.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project conducted a nationwide phone survey between May 4 and June 7 of more than 1,300 Internet users. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3%.

Those surveyed had a better understanding of Internet terms like spam (88%), firewall (78%), spyware (78%), Internet cookies (68%), and adware (52%).

But only 29% of those surveyed had a good idea of the meaning of the term Internet "phishing," which the survey called one of the most serious online dangers. Phishing is defined as unsolicited e-mails that attempt to acquire an Internet user's sensitive information by pretending to be a trustworthy person or business.

The complete study can be found at www.pewinternet.org.