PEW: Say What?

According to a widely reported new survey by PEW, Americans don't know the technology terms "RSS," "Podcasting" and others. So what's the take-away? Use the technology; don't use the terms.

Awhile ago, before the launch of Backfence, I spoke to co-founders Mark Potts and Susan DeFife. They said, "We are going to use blogging and wiki software platforms," as the foundation for their user-generated content site. "But of course we won't use those terms."

The PEW findings don't suggest anything about technology adoption or its potential. People will respond to the technology and its capabilities, but they're befuddled by and intimidated by terminology. Case in point: Think about the difference between "RSS reader" and "MyYahoo!" It's fundamentally a marketing challenge.