Those orange RSS buttons are all over everywhere on the web nowadays.
What is RSS?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It works by allowing you to subscribe to a website or blog (feed) in an RSS reader just by clicking the button.
The technology is also what allows your anti-virus software and iTunes software to update automatically without you having to do anything to make it happen, other than keep up your subscriptions to your services.
What is an RSS Reader?
An RSS reader is a software program that allows you to subscribe to any feed by entering the feed web address (URL) into your reader of choice. Blogs, most news sites and some static websites have RSS feeds along with iTunes and sites offering subscription services of just about every flavor imaginable.
There are dozens of readers available online including:
- Bloglines
- Google Feedfetcher
- MagpieRSS (http://plagger.org/)
- Firefox Live Bookmarks
- Yahoo (to name a few)
You pick one and get a free account. Login to your account and start clicking the RSS buttons on the pages from which you want to receive a live feed.
You can download feeds to your computer, too.
Why should you use RSS?
New content is delivered to the reader automatically as it’s generated and you access it when you want to read, listen to, or watch your subscription content. It beats email because you go to it when you have the time rather than having it come to you in a sea of other email.
However, most RSS feeds are easily subscribed to by email, and those who really want to make it easy for you to get their feed offer an email subscription option. This leaves the choice of how you receive your content completely up to you, the user.
Where did RSS come from?
From what I’ve been able to gather, it was created somewhat simultaneously by David Winer (Berkmann Center for Internet and Society) and Netscape back in 1997, but wasn’t user-friendly until its release to the public in December 2000 as RSS 1.0. Since then, other formats for easily subscribing to site feeds have arrived on the scene, like Atom. RSS is getting to be the standard as time passes.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
