What is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is a technology that started gaining widespread use between 2005 and 2006 and now is being used by millions of web users to keep track of changes on websites that they like to visit regularly.

The RSS feed saves you time because it automatically retrieves the latest content from the sites you are interested in so you don’t need to go and visit each site individually. It also allows you a greater level of privacy because it’s anonymous.

RSS is basically a news feed, or a subscription, no different than you’d subscribe to a magazine or a newspaper. But instead of delivering new content to your physical mail box, when you’ve subscribed to a site’s RSS feed and something changes or a new blog post is written, it is delivered to your Feed Reader where you can read it.

There are lots of different readers available, but the most popular one by far is Google Reader. Readers work a lot like email. As new feeds that you’ve subscribed to come into your reader, they are bolded and marked as unread. When you click on an unread update, you can read it right there in the feed reader or click through to the website to read the update there.

The best way to learn how to use a reader is to simply dive in and get started. First, go to your favorite websites or blogs and decide which ones you want to subscribe to (You can even subscribe to our RSS feed.) Second, you want to look for either the RSS symbol or an RSS button or widget:

RSS Symbol	RSS Buttons & Widgets

Most browsers also have the ability to find and subscribe to RSS feed built right into them. Simply look for the RSS symbol on the right hand side of your address bar to see the site’s feed. You may need to go into your browser’s preferences and make your default reader the reader you have chosen to use (such as Google Reader).

If you don’t want to use an RSS reader, there are alternatives…

Some people are a bit overwhelmed with the whole reader concept, and that’s okay. Most reader services will allow you to collect updates in your email. For most people, this is much easier because they use their email regularly (this is what I do).

Here’s a video that explains RSS in a visual format which may make it easier to understand:

Did this answer your question of what is RSS?