If you browse the internet regularly, I’m sure that you’ve seen an RSS logo (pictured to the right) before. RSS feeds are a way to stay updated with news, articles, blog posts, and other internet content without having to constantly check to see if websites have been updated.

RSS feeds alert you when a website that you frequent is updated, so you don’t waste your time by tediously visiting each one. This way, you can view a large amount of online content in a short period of time. RSS feeds are truly for the smart (and lazy) internet browser.

Selecting an RSS Reader

To use RSS feeds you first need a device to read them, often referred to as a “reader.” You can either use a program on your computer or a utility on the internet. Here are some of the popular choices:

Internet Services:

• NewsGator Online (Free)
• Google Reader (Free)
• My Yahoo! (Free)
• Bloglines (Free)

Using an online service to follow RSS feeds can be beneficial if you use a number of different of computers throughout the day. For example, if you are at school during the day and don’t carry a laptop around, you can still access you feeds using a public computer. It’s also convenient to use one of these services if you already have an account set up with Google or Yahoo.

Internet Browsers:

• Safari
• Firefox

Internet browsers can be a convenient way to follow RSS feeds. It’s simple to add a new RSS feed as a bookmark, or to mix in some feed reading while doing other internet-related things. However, browsers generally lack in features when compared with other methods for reading RSS feeds.

Programs (Mac)

• NetNewsWire (Free)
• NewsFire ($25)
• Shrook (Free)
• NewsLife (€12)

Programs (Windows)

• FeedDemon (Free)
• Omea Reader (Free)
• News Crawler ($25)

Using a program to follow your RSS feeds seems to be the best choice, in my opinion. I recently converted to using NetNewsWire after a long period of using Safari to read RSS feeds, and couldn’t be more happy with my decision.

I decided to make the switch after I heard that NewsGator made four of their RSS readers free. NetNewsWire and other RSS reading programs provide helpful features that make for a better feed-reading experience. One of my favorite features is being able to pick an individual RSS update to read so you can keep track of exactly which articles you haven’t read. NetNewsWire also makes it easy to store and sort your RSS feeds, and to customize the programs layout to fit your needs. In general, using a program to read RSS feeds is a great experience.

Subscribing to RSS Feeds

After you set up an RSS reader, you can begin to follow RSS feeds, a process called “subscribing.” To do this you need to find the address of the RSS feed to which you would like to subscribe. If you are using either Safari or Firefox, an RSS symbol will show up in the toolbar on websites that have RSS feeds available.

Many sites will have an obvious RSS link to take you to their RSS feed. Once you have the address to an RSS feed, you can save it as a bookmark in your RSS device and begin reading!

RSS, in Conclusion

I love RSS feeds because they help keep me up-to-date with the latest technical news and personal updates from friends and other individuals on the internet. When using RSS I never miss an article, and also save time for doing other things. Recently switching to NetNewsWire has also improved my feed-reading experience, making RSSing even better.

So, how do you feel about RSS feeds? Do you currently use RSS feeds, and if so, what type of device do you use to read them? If you haven’t used RSS feeds before, do you think that you might start?

RSS feeds for nathanielbuck.com:

• RSS Feed (RSS address only)
• FeedBurner (Here you can select other options for following)