If you take a look around my blog, you’ll notice a few links that ask you to subscribe via RSS or Email. In both cases, if you subscribe, you’ll receive a notification every time I write a new blog post. There is no spam involved. No one else will ever see your email addresses or have the ability to send you anything via my database. You will ONLY receive my blog posts!
While email is self-explanatory, a lot of people are still not familiar with RSS. Most say RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, but others claim it stands for Rich Site Summary.
Simply put, you subscribe to an RSS Feed from a blog (or blogs) inside a specialized RSS Reader on your computer or cell phone. Every time the blog is updated, your reader will receive the post in an easy to read format.
For a more detailed and very simple explanation, watch this video:
If you’re interested in taking advantage of this very new, very cool (and less time-consuming) way of surfing the internet, here are a few readers that I suggest:
- Google Reader (most popular)
- NewsGator & NetNewsWire (my preference, best for Macs/iPhones)
- Bloglines (easiest)
- Safari (Browser for mac and PC, made by Apple, with integrated RSS)
- Beatnik plugin for Firefox Browser
- Internet Explorer 7 (Browser with integrated RSS) (Last option!)
If you choose to go the RSS route, you’ll probably want to subscribe to multiple feeds to make it truly worthwhile. Believe it or not, most major sites will provide you with an easily accessible RSS Feed. ESPN, Fox News, CNN, Facebook Notifications, Twitter, and countless others have subscribe links on their home pages.
Figure 1: RSS in Address Bar
One Last Tip: If you’re on a site and you can’t find a subscribe link, there is one surefire way to know if they offer an RSS Feed. In the address bar of every modern web browser, you’ll see an icon that looks like Figure 1 if the service is available.
If you’d like to try out RSS Readers and Feeds, please subscribe to MattFlies.com. If you are not interested in going high-tech, I’d still love for you to subscribe via email.
