Get With The Program: Take Advantage of RSS Feeds If You Don’t Already

Sure, you’ve seen this orange icon everywhere, but what does it mean? I’m glad I asked. This graphic represents a method of organizing and publishing structured, syndicated content into what’s known as an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed. RSS feeds make life easier, especially when your bookmarks reach an unmanageable point, advertisements become overbearing, or you just prefer simplicity over atrocious aesthetics.

Nearly every popular web-site on the Internet publishes their content to an RSS feed, and those that don’t should get with the program. Engadget, Lifedev, Digg, woot, Nullamatix, and millions of others take advantage of this beautiful technology, and so should you. So as a visitor, how can you benefit from this XML structured, syndicated content?

The first task is to locate an RSS feed of interest. Visit one of your favorite sites and look for the orange icon pictured above. Capture the feed URL (copy into your clipboard; however you choose), and open your favorite RSS reader (personally, I use Google’s Reader because I’m usually logged into GMail, and Google is smart enough to carry credentials to their other applications - convenience FTW). Find an option that allows you to subscribe or add a feed to your profile.

Here’s a screen shot of Google Reader:

Paste the feed URL into the available text box and select Add, Subscribe, or whatever else is available. Once the RSS reader grabs the feed data, you’ll have subscribed to your very first RSS feed, congratulations! Hopefully your screen looks better than the image below, but you get the idea.

(Click Image To Enlarge)

Notice the number next to the title of the feed. That number indicates how many unread articles exist within that particular feed. Sites like Engadget sometimes post 15, 20, or more posts in a single day. Multiply the number of sites by 10 and keeping track of updates suddenly becomes stressful. With RSS feeds, all your must read sites are clearly listed on the left, and their respective articles listed in a date descending fashion on the right. Minimal, if any ads; just relevant, fast loading information, all organized in an easily readable format.

That is RSS - Use it and enjoy.