Dismayed to hear that Facebook was no longer supported RSS feed in Notes? Wringing your hands and mopping your brow wondering what to do? Fortunately there is an answer and a simple one – well four in fact.
The 4 Killer Facebook RSS Apps
These four killer Facebook RSS applications
- RSS Graffiti
- RSS for Pages
- Social RSS
- Networked Blogs
make it easy for you to share posts from your blog or from social bookmarking sites or indeed any site with an RSS feed on your Fanpage and (in some cases) then some.
In this post I will look at the four most popular Facebook RSS Feed applications, why they are killers (and what takes the edge off).
By the end you will see why Facebook turning off it’s support for RSS in Notes has done you a favour.
RSS Graffiti
Used by 1.3 million Facebook members. This app lets you add a feed to either your profile, your fanpages, your groups or your apps. For simplicity I am going to refer to these collectively as “pages” from here on.
It supports multiple feeds so you can share not only your blog feed but also say, a feed from your bookmarking site (e.g. Delicious) or from other blogs or websites.
Why is this a Killer Facebook RSS App?
- supports multiple feeds
- supports multiple page types
- customisation of message, source
- customisation of frequency and eligibility of posts(based on age)
What Takes the Edge Off?
- By default, will not show posts added to a feed before the feed was picked up by the application. (Although you can change this in settings)
Central Control Panel Makes Management of Pages and Feeds Simpler
RSS Graffiti gives you a central control panel to manage all your pages and feeds from, although you will have to approve the app on a page by page basis but you only have to do this once per page.
- RSS Graffiti Control Panel
The control panel lets you control a number of actions including:
- how your post style – this includes both the heading of the post and whether it will post to a status update
- how often the application will look at your feed
- gives you a preview of your feed which makes it easier to see what happens if you change your style choices or change headings
Grabs Only Posts Added to Feed After App Added to Facebook Page
RSS Graffiti does not show old posts in your feed, by default it grabs posts created and added to a feed from the time the app is added to your Facebook page.
You can elect to start with an earlier post (that is one created and added to a feed before RSS Graffiti was added to your page) however in the “Filters” tab.
What does RSS Graffiti Look Like on a Page?
A picture is worth a thousand words as they say (or at least a couple of 100) – here is how an RSS Graffiti post looks on my Facebook page. In this case I have added a Static Opening message (“Stuff the Hound Found”) and also edited the source information (to Delicious-Wasabihound).
RSS Graffiti on my Facebook Page
Links to Twitter
RSS Graffiti also links to Twitter so it seems you can post the same RSS feed to Twitter
Extras: Wallpaper
The RSS Graffiti app offers “Wallpaper” which is essentially their Facebook Wall alternative. You activate this as you would any other ‘tab’ on a page and if you like it, you can set it as your default opening. You can of course, turn it off too.
RSS for Pages (free version)
Has about 270,000 Facebook users and is exclusively for Facebook fanpages. RSS for Pages does not support a feed to your profile, groups or other apps.
It is developed by Involver and comes in both a free version – which limits you to one feed per page – or a paid version – which allows multiple feeds per page. The plans are relatively expensive (link to Involver Plans and Pricing) but that said what you getting is not just a Facebook RSS app but a one stop social media management solution.
Why is this a Killer Facebook RSS App?
- lean and simple
What takes the Edge Off
- posts only to pages
- only one feed supported
RSS for Pages Settings
Compared to RSS Graffiti and Social RSS (which I cover next) RSS for Pages is pretty thin on features and customisation, it lets your choose:
- the number of posts to display (maximum 40)
- frequency of update (maximum 5 per day)
- whether you want to add the post update to your Wall
RSS for Pages Settings
However simple can be good. If you want to set up a single feed on a page with minimal fuss RSS for Pages may be just what you want. So I guess lean is a better description of this app.
No Sharing or Commenting
The final output on your page continues the simplicity, in particular there are no sharing or commenting links – which I personally think is a bit of a gap.
What does RSS for Pages Look Like on a Page?
The output is quite neat and elegant (note the use of buttons, rather than the usual clickable text):
RSS for Pages on my Facebook Page
Social RSS
At the time of writing, Social RSS is used by 140,000 Facebook users.
Like RSS Graffiti this app supports multiple RSS feeds (up to 5) unlike RSS Graffiti it does not support groups (it does support adding feeds to profiles, fanpages and apps)
Why is this a Killer Facebook RSS App?
- supports multiple feeds
- auto-like
- customisable descriptions and options
What takes the Edge Off
- posts whole article (maybe an operator error (ie me))
The Social RSS Control Panel
Like RSS Graffiti it also offers a single control panel to manage all your feeds. The control panel is a little more barebones in appearance than the RSS Graffiti (no tabs, just dropdown menus and everything in front of you). The layout is logical and gives you easy access to the customisation options.
Social RSS Control Panel
Auto-Liking and Optional Wall Posting
One point of difference for Social RSS from other apps is the option to Auto-like your posts – this gives each post an extra social push by getting it on your Wall and tell your friends.
Paid/Premium Service Available
Like Social RSS also offers a paid service for $US24 per profile/page per year which adds additional features to the app such as more frequent updates and more posts). If you don’t use the paid service you still get the multiple feeds and customisation.
What does Social RSS Look Like on a Facebook Page?
On my page, it inserted the entire post – which was unexpected. There may be a way to just get an extract (in the extreme case, using the feed settings themselves). Not what I wanted but maybe useful to you (especially if you are a short, pithy blogger 
).
Social RSS Post on my Facebook Page
Networked Blogs
There are currently 940,000 registered users of the Networked Blog Facebook application.
Networked Blogs will put a feed on a Facebook profile, fanpage, group page or app page.
It’s a Community Syndication Tool – You Need to Join to Use it
Unlike the other applications (with the possible exception of RSS for Pages) this application is a syndication tool for a community: Networked Blogs (link to homepage) so to use it you need to sign up first.
Once you have joined Networked Blogs you get the option to follow other members of the Networked Blogs community and vote on their posts and article.
This is all free.
Why is this a Killer Facebook RSS App?
- supports multiple feeds
- simple set up
What takes the Edge Off
- only works for blogs
- registration required (although that said it is free and the community is good)
Control Panel/Set Up and Example Post
Set up is from your members page on the Networked Blogs site via the Syndication link. The customisation options are limited and mainly cover:
- where you will syndicate – Facebook or Twitter
- where the image for each post in your feed with come from
The set up includes an example of what your post will look like on a Facebook page:
- Networked Blogs Setup
Which one will you choose?
Each of these applications comes to the Facebook RSS Application table with slightly different offerings.
Are you a blogger or have a single website and just want to get your message out?
Networked Blogs or RSS for Pages may be the tool for you – it also puts you in touch with another blogging community.
Want to share feeds from multiple source and add to them to your fanpage, profile or group?
RSS Graffiti or Social RSS may be more appropriate.
RSS Graffiti my choice Killer Facebook App
Given the higher customisation available with RSS Graffiti, this application is my choice.
Syndication on Facebook a Must
No matter which way you go, an application that lets you quickly syndicate or share your content to your Facebook community is something worth adding to your Facebook presence.
Links to these 4 Killer Facebook Apps
To save you time – here are the links to those apps again (in the case of Networked Blogs the link goes to the homepage of the Networked Blogs site).
| Facebook Application | Adds Feed To | Multiple Feeds | Customisable | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profile | FanPage | Group | App | |||
| RSS Graffiti | y | y | y | y | Yes | Yes, including post |
| RSS for Pages | y | One (free plan), Yes (paid) | Limited | |||
| Social RSS | y | y | y | Yes, five on free plan | Yes | |
| Networked Blogs (link to main website homepage) | y | y | y | y | Yes, registered blogs only | image only |
Question and Comments
If you have any questions or comments regarding RSS applications for Facebook, or any other topic related to Internet Marketing, I am happy to hear, share and discuss.
Just leave a comment below.
Happy syndication.
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