We live in an era that information is becoming available to us through many different sources such as books, magazines, articles, blogs, podcast, and more.  Internet has become The Place to find new and old information.  But there is too much information out there and managing and keeping up is a huge burden on our time.  Now, you can use  RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to stay connected with your favorite content providers online.

What is RSS

When you subscribe, RSS feeds will automatically deliver the new content (text, audio, or video) and changes made to a webpage to you.  RSS reader eliminates the need to check so many websites for news updates.  RSS regularly feeds updates that you can glance quickly and read the articles or blogs that interests you the most.

Feed is the way websites distribute their content to their clients.  RSS is one of the feed formats (standards) and you may also hear about “Atom”.  Consider both the same since most RSS Readers support both RSS and Atom formats.

RSS vs. Email subscription

Subscribing to RSS is more convenient than email subscription.  Too many emails overcrowd your mail box and it makes it harder to separate the good information from the bad.  RSS feed is not email and there are no spam.  You control your RSS and you can easily delete it, when it is harder if not impossible to unsubscribe from email subscriptions.

RSS Readers

You must have an RSS reader to read the feeds.  There are various kinds of RSS readers out there.  Depending on your platform and what you do, you can choose between web based RSS services or application driven tools that you install on your computer.  Here are 4 quick and easy ways to start using RSS:

1.   Google reader (www.google.com/reader) is a great option to use for RSS.  Set it up and you can easily subscribe to everything you want and keep it one place.  Also, for easier access, bookmark the Google reader and add it to your browser menu.

2.   You can also use “My Yahoo”, “Google homepage”, and “My AOL”

3.   Use your browser like Firefox (add “live Bookmarks”) and Safari that has feed support in the Apple OS X browser.

4.   Use web-based tool like Bloglines, Netvibes, Pageflakes, Newsgator, or other readers

Now you are ready to subscribe to the RSS and receive regular feeds of information and keep with the companies and websites that you really like.