RSS is at the heart of blogs yet many people don’t know what it is and why it is so great. I want to help you better understand not only the term but how you can use it to your advantage.
RSS stands for RDF Site Summary or Rich Site Summary. It is an XML format for delivering Web content. What that means it follows web standards in a way that is accessible across many different technologies. Think of it as one of those universal adapter type thingies you might buy for the house. Whether you have one brand or another, it works just the same.
RSS is at the heart of blog content allowing updates to be delivered to other Web sites and individual’s RSS readers as new content is added. This is the most exciting and important part of it.
Why?
Well, information coming at us from all sides on a daily basis. You might wonder, why do we need yet another delivery channel? However, RSS actually helps to manage the chaos and information rather than add to the problem. There are several reasons for this advantage:
- RSS lets people subscribe to their favorite information sources on the Web so they get only what they want when they need it.
- You can use RSS to push information via e-mail messages that contain live RSS information.
- Shifts the burden (and control) of maintaining distribution lists and updates from website owner to the user.
- Ability to create channels of information for specific customer groups by summarizing key information from existing systems.
- People don’t have to go hunting and searching the entire Internet to find the information they need. They can subscribe to RSS feeds for the topics of their choice.
- Updates happen automatically with no manual intervention required.
How You Can Start Reading RSS
The best way to start to understand the value is to simply use it. And, the good news is it is easy. There are four main ways you can subscribe to RSS feeds:
- Standalone Desktop Aggregators: Client applications which are downloaded to your computer and run independently.
- E-mail Client: Plug-in to popular e-mail clients let you receive RSS feeds right in your e-mail window.
- Web Browser: Use a free Internet aggregator like Bloglines or Google Reader (among others…) to keep all your subscriptions in one place.
- Mobile Device: Use a subscription mobile service to have RSS feeds delivered to wireless mobile devices. This delivery option is particularly useful for people who are always on the go.
There’s a comprehensive list of a number of different readers at About.com as well.
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