RSS: getting the best out of your RSS reader
22 05 2008
There’s the easy way or the hard way. RSS makes your life easy but for people new to RSS it’s easy to overlook it’s importance. And educating, those new to the concept of RSS, how to use it effectively should be a priority.
What is RSS
Spend any time on the Internet, and you will see the word RSS or the orange icon normally used to indicate a site has RSS feed. RSS is an acronym which stands for Really Simple Syndication.
In simple terms RSS is a simple and effective way of keeping in touch when new information is added to a website without having to visit the site.
Check out RSS in Plain English for an excellent explanation of how RSS saves you time.
Forget about bookmarking sites in your web browser…
email updates or visiting your favourite sites — these all take time and time is precious. Read What is RSS and why you should use it? An introduction for newbies for a more detail explanation of why these practices are more time consuming. Using RSS is way more time effective; simply subscribe to the RSS feed from a web site using a Feed Reader.
Subscribing to RSS Using A Feed Reader
A feed reader or RSS reader is able to take the RSS feed from a site and present in a readable form for the user. Google Reader, Bloglines and NetVibes are all examples of feed readers. Instead of visiting numerous sites the RSS feeds from these sites comes to one location — your feed reader, where you read the information.
I, like many, prefer to use Google Reader. Check out this 5 min video or download this “How To” guide to learn how to set up and use Google Reader.
Final Thought
I always find explaining why it’s important to use RSS hard, probably because it really is something you need to experience first hand. If you’re not currently using a feed reader now’s the time to learn. You could use this list of top Edubloggers to find some blogs you would like to subscribe to.
Please let me know how you go 
or if you an experienced RSS user is there more information you think I should add?
And off course don’t forget to subscribe to the FED UP2.o RSS feed
More on GOOGLE READER:
