While an increasing number of people can now say they have read a blog, I have found that few of these new inductees to blogging (and many of my readers) are aware of the technology that has led to blogs’ popularity: RSS feeds.
I’m going to attempt to explain them below, but the easiest way to “get” RSS might be watching this video, called RSS in Plain English.
RSS feeds are a syndicated feeding system that essentially brings new web content to your door. When the newspaper boy drops off a new paper, you can look at the front step and see whether you’ve got something new to read. With RSS, you go to your “feeder” and can see at a quick glimpse whether there is anything new on the Internet you would like to read. I think of it like an email inbox, but where where you have more control over what comes in.
How do you use RSS? You’ll need to use a feeder, and the most popular ones among the people I read are Bloglines and Google Reader. On a page you are viewing, you will often see a link that says RSS 2.0 or something like it. Your browser may also show an icon on the right side of the url address bar (usually orange with some white lines 
). If you click on either of these, you should be navigated to an odd looking page and see a url similar to the original, but with a funky ending (like “/feed/” or .xml or something). You can then copy and paste that url address into your feeder (use the “Add” or Add subscription) or maybe the screen will show you a drop-down menu and you can pick the software you use and drop the feed in there. Whatever feeder you choose will have lots of instructions available – try it out and get your feet wet.
You don’t have to read lots of content to enjoy the beauty of feeds. One of my favorite folders in my feeder contains photoblogs - heaps of great pictures ready for my viewing each day.
If you’re looking for more information, Will Richardson, a popular educational weblog writer, has put together this guide to explain RSS feeds more and how you can use them.
February 25, 2008 at 12:35 pm
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September 15, 2008 at 4:52 am
[...] added to a specific web page or blog. If you want to understand RSS feeds more, check out this great blog of a friend of mine. He’s a teacher and it will help you understand. Use the RSS feed on [...]