What is RSS?

There's a new type of Internet application that's slowly and quietly getting popular — one that can simplify the lives of Web junkies, and that can turn Web skimmers into daily readers. It's called RSS. In a nutshell, RSS allows Web site owners to create a list of what's on their pages — a bare-bones list of titles, descriptions, and dates that gets updated as the site is updated. That list allows readers to know if a favorite site has some new content without having to check it every few hours.

Readers, instead of having to visit the page, use a tool called an RSS reader (sometimes called an "RSS aggregator" or "headline viewer"). This tool checks each site's RSS file — sometimes called the feed— and presents the reader with a list of what's new across the board. So instead of going from site to site, you would check with your RSS reader (which runs quietly in the background) and see the titles and descriptions of what's new on each one. Then you can pick just which articles you want to read.

Having a RSS reader is like having a newspaper that's filled with only the stuff you like. Personalized content, delivered to you, to be read at your leisure. There are lots of RSS readers out there. The newest versions of Internet Explorer, Microsoft Outlook, and Mozilla Firefox all have built in aggregators. Google also has a popular web-based aggregator called Google Reader

Once you have an RSS reader, you need to subscribe to "feeds." Most come with a selection of starter subscriptions, or a directory of popular feeds. You'll start to notice that many blogs and websites sport small orange rectangles with "XML" or "RDF" in them — the standard sign of a feed. (You'll find that different RSS readers have different ways of subscribing. Some will do it automatically when you click on that orange rectangle. Others require that you enter the full address of a feed.)

When you are on one of the blog pages of the Student Association page you'll see the RSS icon and the word "Subscribe" on the side bar linking to the SA feed.

Adapted from Andrew Kantor's article in the "Cyberspeak" column of USA Today on 1/1/2004. Full Text.