People tend to be intimidated by new technology they are exposed to, until they understand it. This is true of RSS, though the idea behind it actually came from the mid 90's and RSS has been used on the Internet for a number of years. The growing popularity of RSS comes from its many uses.

What is RSS? Any good computer dictionary will define RSS as Really Simple Syndication, but this really tells you next to nothing. Explaining RSS is a little more involved, though the principles are pretty easy to understand.

The briefest overview is that RSS allows a computer to get (or send) updates of information, news, articles, or anything else that is updated on another computer or server that is set up to send RSS information. This gives a taste of what it is, but it still falls short of explaining RSS.

Though it is a very rough analogy, RSS can be likened to radio, in that it requires two parts; a sending unit and a receiving unit. As new data is posted on a site, it is sent through the RSS feed of the sending unit. All that is necessary is to have a receiving unit that is capable of reading that data and displaying it. The receiving unit is called the aggregator or reader.

This is far more efficient than the alternate way of redesigning web pages entirely every time that something changes on the site. It is far less labor and time intensive for both the person sending the data and the person receiving it.

To use an example, which is one of the first groups to use RSS extensively, let's look at news sites. If you've been to FoxNews.com, BBC.com, ABC.com or any of hundreds of other news sources, you might note that top stories update often. This isn't done by redesigning the website, it is accomplished by using RSS.

In the case of the news site, the program that receives and shows the data, called the RSS reader, is embedded in the site. The result is that as new headlines are posted, they are almost immediately available when you are viewing the site.

It isn't at all limited to news sites, however. Many RSS readers are available for download for free, or are included with website software. The FoxFire browser even has an RSS reader embedded in it, as does Yahoo.

With a general RSS reader which can be downloaded from the Internet for free, you can select what RSS feeds you want to view and be updated on, whenever changes are made. This is called subscribing to the feed. This allows you to control exactly what content you will be shown, when it changes on a favorite website. In turn, this saves you time and effort. All you need to do to keep appraised of new developments is to look at your RSS reader.

Knowing exactly how RSS works is not necessary in order to use it. The technology behind it is trusted and true, and many people have been using it unknowingly for quite some time. The ideas and basics of the system are easy to understand, so why don't you start using RSS more? It will result in less effort for you in the long run, and you will be happier with having the information changes as they happen rather than waiting for someone to tell you, or having to find out yourself.

RSS is a technology that has been around for a long time. Yet it is still the wave of the future. It is a great way to keep abreast of the latest changes on your favorite website. Give it a try.

Learn more about this author, Rex Trulove.
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