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Really Simple Syndication: What is RSS? Why use RSS feeds? How to use RSS?

By Michael Fletcher On August 14, 2011 · 17 Comments

So you visited my site or another blog and would like to pop in more often and keep track of the content on the site. So you add the site as a bookmark and Bob’s your father’s brother. Except what if you wanted to be notified when new content is added or existing content is updated. Well you can by subscribing to the RSS feed but what the heck is an RSS feed?

What is RSS

RSS feeds are the answer to the modern internet. The internet is all grown up and with the growth of broadband across the planet we have as a planet access to more information faster than at any time in history. We are no longer limited by our technology but by time we have available. RSS feeds are a result of the change in the face of technology allowing content on the internet to change constantly. The internet as you know it will not be the same in 5 minutes time and has probably changed fairly drastically in the last 60 seconds. RSS feeds were designed with this in mind, the dynamic web a web in constant flux. A static bookmark is no longer sufficient for a website who may add and update content many times an hour. We need content as and when it changes RSS delivers your internet right to your browser in real time.

RSS means Really Simple Syndication

The syndication bit simply means the delivery of media and the really simple is what RSS is.

Now you:

No Longer need to check for updates when a site is updated your RSS feed gets updated automatically
No longer need to navigate to each site you regularly read the content is right there when you open your RSS feed reader
Can receive breaking news as and when it happens
Drastically reduce the time you need to spend on the internet
Drastically increase the amount of media you can consume

I have included an additional video as well as text guides on how to use RSS feeds all of which are quite comprehensive, in the resources at the end of the post should anything still be unclear.

How to use RSS

Get an RSS reader there are a plethora of RSS readers on the market for sale and for free I suggest starting with a free reader like Google Reader
Once you’ve found a RSS feed you’d like to subscribe to click on the RSS icon.
If there is a drop down select your reader if not you should see a screen similar to the one below where you’ll be able to choose your preferred RSS reader.
Go back to Google reader and you should see the latest posts from the RSS feed you’ve subscribed to in Google Reader

That is as they say is that. Rinse and repeat for every site RSS you’d like to add and a come back daily and keep track of your important sites as and when they change.