While social media sites seem to be the future of web site aggregation, at least one element of it, there's one aspect of these sites that is starting to get annoying. Have you noticed some of your favorite sites adding a row and sometimes multiple rows of links to social news sites, ostensibly to make it easy for visitors to bookmark or save the site on del.icio.us, digg, netscape, reddit, furl, or any number of other sites of this ilk. Of course, there's also a myriad of service-specific RSS links, so that users of Bloglines, Google Reader, NewsGator, Netvibes, etc. can click on one link and subscribe to the site in the reader of their choice. The thing is, I'm not sure people even use these buttons, particularly when they're all grouped together; they've simply become litter online.

Well, if you're someone that wants to offer your users the ability to easily subscribe to or bookmark your site, but want to avoid littering your site with all of these site-specific icons, check out Add This. Add This allows you to put a single image link on your site to take your readers to a dedicated bookmarking site page, and another for feed readers. Once there, they can choose the service they'd like to use, and perform the function they're looking to do. On one hand, all this seems to be doing is cleaning up your pages by putting all the site-specific links on an intermediate page - something you could arguably do yourself. But there's more to the Add This service, which makes it more compelling.

Add This aggregates statistics about which pages and site features your readers are collecting in their bookmark collections the most, and provide that data back to you. Assuming the web viewing population uses these links more than I think they do, this could provide some very valuable information as to what people are truly finding interesting on your site. Personally, I'm still a bit skeptical as to the need for all of these site-specific links. If this trend continues at the rate it's been going, ad blocking software will also be blocking social media bookmarking links just to provide a cleaner interface for web users. Hey, it's a thought.

Now that we know what RSS newsreader you like, loathe, and can't live without, inquiring minds want to know what you like to read with your favorite reader. Tell us your "guilty pleasure" feed; the one you would feel embarrassed to reveal. Is it the celebrity gossip site, the one hundred and one most popular mustard flavors, or the latest in automobile bra fashion? Please keep it clean, as this blog is read by younger readers as well (my kid brother included). Tell us what your guilty pleasure is, and remember that we are doing this to get in touch which that chronic downloader in all of us. Don't worry, we won't tell - you can trust us here at Download Squad. This is the part of Downloaders Anonymous where you can tell us what's on your feed list and get it off your chest. We're listening, so spill the beans! What color does RSS turn when it is embarrassed? Bright orange perhaps?

Just counting all the feed readers out there would be a daunting task, much less actually choosing one. Fortunately we have people like Ryan Stewart and Richard MacManus, who've written a round-up of their picks for best-of-breed RSS readers over at Read/WriteWeb. Stewart and MacManus split the task into three categories: Web-based, desktop, and "rich internet application." The latter category is a bit hard to pin down. Stewart and MacManus' idea of an "RIA" is an app that takes the best from both the desktop and the web, i.e. the power of a desktop app with the locationless (and install-less) and social aspects of a web app. For web-based readers, MacManus chooses Rojo (which I recently praised here) and Bloglines, and for the desktop NewsGator and BlogBridge. For the RIA category they don't have any definitive picks, but MacManus tentatively taps Google Reader, FeedLounge, and Goowy. Head over to Read/WriteWeb to read the full article, or post your own picks in the comments.