RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. With most people using the web as their primary source of information, they typically have a variety of locations on the web from which they gather information. This means they have to surf to all these locations independently to gather that information.
RSS allows information from popular websites to be aggregated into a single RSS newsreader. This newsreader could be a stand alone application, an application like Outlook or more typically these days, a web site.
A good example of a web based RSS reader is Feedly. After you create an account at Feedly you can start adding ‘feeds’ from popular sites. Not all sites have RSS feeds but typically news and blog sites do. If you type in the site you wish to aggregate into Feedly it will find the appropriate RSS feed, if one exists.
You can keep adding RSS feeds to Feedly and then use that as the central location to visit when consuming information. As you read each story it is marked as read, allowing you to continue or pick up where you left off at a later stage.
If you find a story that interests you and you want more information you can simply click on that site feed and you’ll be take to the original story.
RSS is typically used when consuming blogs. If you want to follow at least a handful of blogs then you should use an RSS reader to simplify the process. There is no cost to use RSS or most readers.
If you are producing information for others to read it is important to ensure that your information source is RSS enabled, making it easy for people to consume. If you need help enabling RSS on your information sources please contact Correct on 02 8831 8200.
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