What is an RSS Feed... and Why Should You Care?
RSS...
Blogs...
Feedreaders...
You've probably seen all these latest buzzwords in a lot of places. Why all the excitement? What is an RSS feed, anyway?
RSS stands for Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication - both versions have become the accepted definition. Basically, what that means is it is an easy way for websites to "syndicate" their content and - more importantly - an easy way for you to keep up with the latest information on your favorite sites.
You choose the RSS feeds that you want to read. Nobody else can sign you up for one, so unsolicited spam is not a problem with RSS. If you're not happy with the information you're getting in the feed, you just delete it. Once it's deleted, you won't get any more messages, unlike email where you can still be on a mailing list even after unsubscribing.
Could This be the End of Email?
One of the common answers to the question "What is an RSS feed" is that it will be a replacement for email. That's not to say that email will go away - it's still the best way to communicate one on one.
Where RSS can replace email is things like email newsletters and other mass mailings. There's so much spam flying around the internet these days that legitimate messages tend to get lost in the noise, if not mistakenly filtered out by anti-spam tools.
The people publishing RSS feeds can count on their messages getting to the subscribers and you can subscribe to it without fear of getting a bunch of junk trying to sell you the latest "enhancement" drug or offering you a cut of some Nigerian prince's inheritance.
How Do I Sign Up?
To read an RSS feed you need a program called a "feedreader." There are a lot of different programs - some free, others not - that work in different ways.
Some of them are separate programs, just like your email software. Others are built into your internet browser software (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.) Which option is best depends on how much you use RSS and how many feeds you subscribe to.
Most of the stand-alone programs work very much like what you're used to seeing in your email software. There will be a list of feeds (mail folders), headlines in each feed (messages) and a preview window to read each story.
The RSS readers that are built into your browser are viewed as if they are a web page. They can be more convenient since you don't have to switch to another program, but they don't have as many features as the separate feed reader programs do.
What is the Best RSS Feed Reader Software?
The best RSS feed reader software I've used is a service from Google called Google Reader. It's a web-based service, which means you access it and read all your feeds through your web browser. It's fast, it has some neat sharing and bookmarking features, and perhaps best of all, it's free.
If you're just starting out with RSS feeds, I recommend using Google Reader to get a feel for how it works.
Visit the Google Reader website
I have a lot of feeds that I follow (over 200) and I like to be able to view them in different ways. Because RSS feeds are so convenient and quick to read, you might find you build up quite a list of feeds before too long.
Google Reader lets you view news items by from individual feeds, unread items or even through a page that looks a lot like a standard newspaper format.
One of the best features of Google Reader is that it has Google's search capabilities built right in so you can find almost anything you want in your feeds. When you have a lot of feeds to read, this can be a BIG help.
RSS has been around for a while, but has become widely used over the last couple of years. Hopefully this has answered the question "What is an RSS feed" for you and given you some tools to learn how to use it effectively.