RSS Feeds…what are they and how can they help you?

RSS feeds popped up within my PIDP course as a suggested internet resource that we could refer to on our blogs. I have heard of the term RSS feed, in my technological travels, but that is about where my knowledge of this resource ends. After doing some digging I was able to uncover that RSS stands for really simple syndication (Nations, n.d.). Really simple syndication means that one page, a feed aggregator, contains content from multiple pages and updates frequently to keep the reader informed of information from various sites. To further simplify this concept think of an online news site that contains headlines from around the world. This feed would allow you to save precious time by not having to check ten newspaper sites but rather subscribe to have them all displayed in one place. A great example of an RSS feed that I use frequently can be viewed by following this link http://www.cbc.ca/cmlink/rss-topstories. My internet explorer has an automatic feed aggregator that can be accessed by simply clicking on the RSS subscription link at the top of the RSS page and therefore can collect all of my favorites in one place.

Go exploring for RSS feeds and you’ll find a ton of great feeds that you can collect and enjoy.

Nations, D. (n.d.). What is really simple syndication (RSS)? [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://webtrends.about.com/od/webfeedsyndicationrss/a/RSS_guide.htm