According to a Google customer survey, only 9.5 percent of American web users still use RSS, while 70.8 percent of them have never used RSS feed websites. As for the remaining 19.5 percent, these folks claim that they do not know if they have ever used RSS. Thus, we can assume if they do not know, they probably have not.

Thus, if we go by these statistics, we can assume that over 90 percent of Americans do not use RSS, even if they had sometime in the past. On the surface, this does not look good for the future of RSS. But do these statistics really mean that RSS is no longer relevant, and adding RSS feed to websites is a waste of time? To answer this question it would probably be worth looking into who uses RSS, how those folks use it, and why they still choose to use it to get their news.

It would probably be wise to begin by looking at the ways that web users are now receiving their information. The fact that over 40 percent of all American web users obtain their information via social media sites like Google Plus, Twitter, and Facebook should come as no surprise. After all, 48 percent of all Americans use one or more of those sites. However, do people use those site specifically to get information, or is socialization their primary objective?

Undoubtedly, the popularity of social media is tied into the term that is part of its name. Web users sign up for Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus to socialize with others, not to get the news. It is because news is available through each of those sites that many have chosen to abandon RSS altogether. But this does not render RSS obsolete, which is the reason that millions of web users still choose to display RSS feed on websites they use.

Although social media sites are convenient, the fact remains that nearly 10 percent of Americans enjoy the simple, no frills benefits of adding RSS feed to websites. The bottom line is web users who still display RSS feeds on websites that they enjoy do not have to deal with the distracting aspects of social media. As long as there are people who want to receive their news and information in a way that is convenient and distraction free, there will RSS will continue to be relevant.